Dow Jones
LAKELAND, Fla. FloridaFirst Bancorp Inc. said on Friday that it completed its purchase of seven central Florida branches from SunTrust Banks Inc.
SunTrust had been forced to sell the branches to gain regulatory approval for its deal to acquire the Florida branch network of the Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares Inc.
Each of the branches is a former Huntington branch. Four are located in Lakeland, Florida, with one each in Avon Park and Sebring in Highlands County, and one branch in Wildwood, Florida.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed Friday. When it announced the deal Dec. 6, FloridaFirst said it would pay a premium of about 7.6% on the deposits. Based on the $162 million of deposits FloridaFirst said it acquired, the company paid about $174 million for the branches.
FloridaFirst said in a press statement Friday that it expects the acquisition, which gives FloridaFirst Bank 18 branches in central Florida, to add to earnings in the first year.
According to a Thomson Financial/First Call survey, one analyst expects FloridaFirst to earn $1.03 a share this year, while another predicts earnings of $1.05 a share. For the year that ended Sept. 30, FloridaFirst earned $5 million, or 93 cents a diluted share. As of Dec. 31 it had $654 million of assets.
FloridaFirst also said it purchased about $26 million of loans related to the branches.
SunTrust, of Atlanta, acquired the branches from Huntington as part of a deal worth more than $700 million when it was announced in September. A SunTrust spokesman said Friday it was forced to divest the branches to complete the deal with Huntington.
