Seacoast to buy Professional Holding in S. Florida

Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in Stuart has agreed to buy Professional Holding in Coral Gables, Fla.

The $10.8 billion-asset Seacoast said in a press release Monday that it will pay $488.6 million in stock for the $2.7 billion-asset Professional. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, priced Professional at 216% of its tangible book value.

Professional has nine branches, $2.4 billion of deposits and $2 billion of loans. The company also has a digital innovation team in Cleveland.

Professional “will be a strong addition to Seacoast’s breadth of offerings, accelerating our growth strategy and expanding our presence in the attractive South Florida market,” Charles Shaffer, Seacoast’s chairman and CEO, said in the release. 

“With the combined scale, we will bring to market a larger balance sheet, a greater digital product set and the resources to become South Florida’s most competitive community bank,” Shaffer added. 

The deal is expected to be 11.8% accretive to Seacoast’s 2023 earnings per share, and 15.4% accretive the following year. It should take a little over two years for Seacoast to earn back the estimated 6.4% dilution to its tangible book value.

Seacoast plans to cut more than 40% of Professional’s annual noninterest expenses. It plans to incur $34 million of merger-related expenses. 

Abel Iglesias, Professional’s president and CEO, will become Seacoast’s Miami-Dade regional president. 

Seacoast also has pending purchases of Apollo Bank and Drummond Community Bank. 

Piper Sandler and Alston & Bird advised Seacoast. Stephens and Gunster Law Firm advised Professional.