Dive Brief:
- Greenville, South Carolina-based United Community Banks will acquire Gainesville, Georgia-based Peach State Bancshares in a roughly $100.8 million deal set to close in the third quarter, the lenders announced Tuesday.
- The transaction would make the combined bank No. 1 in market share for Hall County, Georgia, roughly 50 miles northeast of Atlanta, and give United two added branches, along with $788 million in new assets, $498 million in loans and $713 million in deposits.
- The deal would be at least the seventh since 2018 for $28.2 billion-asset United. Two recent transactions – for First National Bank of South Miami in 2023 and American National Bank the following year – focused on building out a presence in South Florida.
Dive Insight:
United Community Banks has held a presence in Gainesville since 2005, the year Peach State opened. In that time, Hall County’s population has boomed – jumping nearly 12% since 2020, according to Census Bureau statistics.
“Because we already operate in the Gainesville area, this partnership creates a unique opportunity to learn from one another, combine local knowledge, and deepen our impact,” United CEO Lynn Harton said in a statement. “Together, we will build even stronger, service-minded teams focused on improving our communities – one customer at a time.”
Harton added that the cultures of the two banks “fit seamlessly together.”…