TAMPA, Fla. — In the biggest merger ever of two credit unions, Suncoast Schools FCU, Florida's largest credit union saddled with big losses, has agreed to combine with GTE FCU, also with large losses.
The merger will create a credit union giant with almost $8 billion in assets serving almost 675,000 members.The merger comes on the heels of each of the credit unions' huge 2008 financial losses in the fallout from the mortgage meltdown and credit crisis. Suncoast Schools lost $76.7 million and GTE lost $27.5 million last year, reports filed with the NCUA said.
Suncoast, with $5.9 billion in assets and 475,000 members, is the seventh largest credit union in the U.S. Headquartered in Tampa, it operates 50 full-service branches in 15 Florida counties.
GTE, with $1.9 billion in assets and 203,000 members, also is headquartered in Tampa and operates 33 branches in Florida, one in Louisiana and one in Maine.
