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Carolina Financial Corp. to acquire Carolina Trust

Staff Report //July 15, 2019//

Carolina Financial Corp. to acquire Carolina Trust

Staff Report //July 15, 2019//

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Carolina Financial Corp., the holding company of CresCom Bank, has agreed to acquire Carolina Trust Bancshares Inc., a Lincolnton, N.C.-based company.

Carolina Trust Bancshares is the holding company for Carolina Trust Bank, which operates 11 full-service offices and one loan production office in the Charlotte area. As of March 31, Carolina Trust had $621 million in assets, $474 million in gross loans and $523 million of deposits.

Subject to the terms of the merger agreement, Carolina Trust shareholders will receive 0.3 shares of Carolina Financial common stock, or $10.57 in cash for each share of Carolina Trust’s common stock. Based on Carolina Financial Corp.’s closing stock price of $35.62 as of July 12, this equates to a deal value of approximately $100.1 million.

Jerry Rexroad, CEO of Carolina Financial, said in a news release that the acquisition allows the company to extend its market presence in North Carolina.

“Carolina Trust represents the best opportunity for Carolina Financial to expand our footprint in these markets. … This partnership is an excellent opportunity to create value for both institutions,” Rexroad said.

The merger has been unanimously approved by the boards of directs of both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020 pending regulatory approval and Carolina Trust shareholder approval.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Carolina Financial will have more than $4.5 billion in assets, $3.1 billion in loans and $3.3 billion in deposits.

Jerry Ocheltree, president and CEO of Carolina Trust, will be named president of CresCom Bank’s North Carolina commercial banking operations, and Johnathan Rhyne, Carolina Trust’s current chairman of the board, will be appointed to the Carolina Financial and CresCom Bank boards of directors

“We find the strategic fit of the two organizations compelling, especially for our customers that will benefit from the broader array of products and services,” Ocheltree said in a statement. “We will leverage the new resources and products available to us through CresCom Bank and are attracted to the opportunity to operate in our current markets with a significantly larger scale.”

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