Southern State and Center State to mix in Merger of Equals to generate Southeast Regional that is leading Bank

Combined Company Positioned become a higher Efficiency standard bank with about $34 Billion in Assets Serving 18 High development areas in six states that are southeastern

Merger produces the 8th Largest Bank Headquartered within the Southeast

Economically Combination that is compelling for Businesses’ Investors

Combines Two Low-Cost Deposit Bases with Over One Million Customers and a Well placed Branch system from Florida through Virginia

COLD WEATHER HAVEN, Fla. & COLUMBIA, S.C. –(BUSINESS WIRE)– CenterState Bank Corporation (NASDAQ: CSFL) (“CenterState”), the moms and dad business of CenterState Bank, and Southern State Corporation (NASDAQ: SSB) (“South State”), the moms and dad business of Southern State Bank, jointly established today they’ve entered right into a definitive contract under that the businesses will combine within an all-stock merger of equals with a complete market value of roughly $6 billion to create a prominent Southeastern-based bank that is regional.

(L-R) Robert R. Hill, Jr., Southern State Corporation CEO, and John C. Corbett, CEO of CenterState Bank, have established a merger of equals to create a prominent Southeast bank that is regional. (picture: company Wire)
beneath the regards to the merger contract, that was unanimously authorized by the panels of Directors of both businesses, CenterState shareholders will get 0.3001 stocks of South State typical stock for each share of CenterState typical stock they have. CenterState shareholders will possess roughly 53% and Southern State shareholders will have more or less 47% for the combined business.

The combined business shall run underneath the Southern State Bank title and certainly will trade beneath the Southern State ticker icon SSB in the Nasdaq stock exchange. The business are going to be headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida and certainly will maintain a presence that is significant Columbia and Charleston, sc; Charlotte, new york; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Robert R. Hill, Jr., CEO of South State, will act as Executive Chairman associated with the combined business. John C. Corbett, CEO of CenterState, is going to be CEO of this combined business. The Board of Directors of this combined business will contain sixteen directors evenly split between your two legacy businesses.

“We are excited to partner with CenterState, ” said Robert R. Hill, Jr. “We have actually great respect for John, the management group together with company CenterState has built. This really is a great mixture of countries, that may produce value that is tremendous our investors. ”

“We have actually known and admired Robert along with his group for more than ten years, therefore we think our two companies are an outstanding fit, ” said John C. Corbett, CEO of CenterState. “Combining both of these high-performing groups will let us build a straight more powerful business together. ”

Strategically Compelling for Both Businesses

• Improved Scale to push Growth and Improve Profitability: The pro forma company, with around $34 billion in assets and $26 what is money mutual interest rate billion in deposits, combines two top-notch businesses with comparable credit and administration philosophies.
• Strengthens Both organizations: This merger combines two highly respected management teams running complementary company lines. It diversifies the geographies of every business into a contiguous six-state impact, spanning from Florida to Virginia.
• Combines Two Strong Core Deposit Franchises and High-Quality Loan Portfolios: The combined business can benefit through the mix of two low-cost core-funded deposit bases and top-quality loan portfolios, supplying a reliable supply of funds and clients.
• High-Growth areas: the business may have areas in 10 regarding the 15 quickest growing Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) within the Southeast and can have a pro forma population that is deposit-weighted of 6%. The combined business may have a existence in seven associated with the ten many populous areas in the Southeast.
• Experienced and Compatible Management Teams: The administration teams regarding the two organizations have actually considerable experience and run with extremely philosophies that are similar values. Each administration group has effectively finished mergers that are numerous purchases while the subsequent integrations of systems and groups.

Economically metrics that are attractive Shareholders

• Significant Earnings Per Share Accretion: The deal is projected to provide more than 20% EPS accretion to South State when expense saves are fully phased in, with just minimal concrete guide value dilution and a TBVPS earnback amount of significantly less than 12 months.
• Cost Synergies: the firms have actually identified $80 million in anticipated yearly web financial savings completely phased in by 2022, representing roughly 10% of projected 2020 combined non-interest costs.
• Leading professional Forma Profitability: On a professional forma foundation, the combined company is anticipated to provide profitability that is robust.

The merger will combine the management that is executive from both businesses. Along with Robert Hill, Executive Chairman, and John Corbett, CEO, the executive group of this combined business includes three people from each legacy business.

CenterState Leadership
Will Matthews, Chief Financial Officer
Steve Young, Chief Strategy Officer
Richard Murray, President

Southern State Leadership
Renee Brooks, Chief Working Officer
Greg Lapointe, Chief Banking Officer
John Pollok, SEVP & Board Member

Approval and Timing

The merger is anticipated to shut when you look at the 3rd quarter of 2020, susceptible to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of customary regulatory approvals and approval by the investors of each and every business.

Deal Advisors

Piper Sandler & Co. Served as financial consultant to Southern State, with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz serving as appropriate consultant.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel business, served as monetary consultant to CenterState, with Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP serving as appropriate consultant.

Joint Investor Conference Call

You will have a joint meeting call to go over the deal at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today. To be controlled by the call that is live please dial 877-506-9272 in the U.S. And 412-380-2004 for all other places and enter the participant rule 10138864. The real time webcast, together with the associated presentation, is likely to be available regarding the investor relations part of each company’s web site at https: //www. Southstatebank.com/ and https: //www. Centerstatebank.com/. A replay that is audio be accessible start at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on January 27, 2020. To get into the replay, dial 877-344-7529 and employ seminar quantity 10138864. Global callers should dial 412-317-0088 and go into the exact same meeting quantity. This replay, plus the webcast, will undoubtedly be available through February 10, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
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