Sarasota’s only locally owned community bank is being acquired by an $8 billion Michigan credit union that has spent the past three years expanding across Florida, adding another market to a branch network stretching from Tampa Bay to Naples.
DFCU Financial announced Monday that it intends to acquire Gulfside Bank, a Sarasota institution founded in 2018 that had approximately $345 million in assets, $294 million in deposits and $256 million in loans as of June 30. The agreement marks DFCU’s fourth Florida transaction since 2023 and remains subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition fills a geographic gap between DFCU’s existing operations in Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida. The Dearborn-based credit union already has five branches in the Tampa Bay area, two in Orlando and one each in Naples and Fort Myers. Adding Sarasota would give it a presence in four of Florida’s seven largest metropolitan markets, according to the company…