United Community Bank finishes merger with Three Shores Bancorporation

Listen to this article

Greenville-based United Community Banks merged with Florida’s Three Shores Bancorporation Inc. and its subsidiary Seaside National Bank and Trust on July 1.

Gideon Haymaker, founder and CEO of Seaside National Bank, will serve as Florida president for the consolidated bank, according to a news release.

“We have been looking for an opportunity to enter Florida in the right markets, with the right business model, and most importantly, with the right people. We believe that we have accomplished all of these things with this merger,” Lynn Harton, CEO and chair of United Community Bank, said in the news release. “Since the transaction announcement in March, our relationship with Gideon and his team has become even stronger, and we continue to believe that now more than ever, our combined banks are better together.”

The merger is expected to diversify Seaside National Bank’s mortgage products and business lending expertise on issues including SBA and asset-based lending, while bolstering United Community Bank’s wealth management platform across a wider geographic territory, according to the release.

"We had discussions with a number of potential partners, but none that we believed was a good fit until we met with the United team,” Haymaker said in the release. “We believe that the United transaction provides an excellent combination of liquidity and a favorable outcome for our investors. It also provides our bank with a larger balance sheet and additional resources that will support the goals of our talented management team. It is also important to note that Seaside and United share the same values and believe in the importance of a service-oriented culture.”

United will continue to operate Seaside’s Florida locations under the existing brand until February 2021, and United locations in Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas will be supplemented with Seaside’s commercial and industrial loan program.

As of March 31, Three Shores claimed $1.8 billion in assets, $1.5 billion in deposits and $1.4 billion in loans at the company’s 14 banking offices, according to the release.