Bank of the Ozarks of Little Rock on Friday took over the assets and deposits of a failing South Carolina thrift, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was appointed receiver.
The Office of Thrift Supervision closed Woodlands Bank of Bluffton, S.C. Bank of the Ozarks entered a purchase and assumption agreement with the FDIC to assume all Woodlands’ assets and deposits. Per the agreement, Woodlands’ eight branches will reopen Monday as branches of Bank of the Ozarks.
Woodlands Bank, the 91st FDIC-insured financial institution to fail in 2010, had $379.4 million in assets as of March 31. It lost $11.3 million in 2009 and another $5.7 million in the first quarter of 2010.
This is second FDIC-assisted acquisition for Bank of the Ozarks this year. In March, the bank purchased Unity National Bank in Cartersville, Ga.
Bank of the Ozarks sent dozens of employees to South Carolina, Executive Vice President Susan Blair told ArkansasBusiness.com.
"With this new acquisition, we picked up eight offices, so we have about 50 employees who have been deployed to those eight offices. We’ll work through the weekend and get the offices opened Monday," Blair said.
The team is larger than was sent to Georgia in March, she said, because there are more branch offices to convert and they are spread over a larger geographic area.
Woodlands Bank was undercapitalized, but that’s not a problem for Bank of the Ozarks, Blair said.
"We have robust capital ratios and can easily absorb this bank and still have strong capital with the acquisition," she said.
Enough to keep bidding on other banks? "Yes."
The Ozarks name doesn’t seem like a good fit in South Carolina, but Blair said the company has no plans to rebrand. "The name has worked well in Texas and it’s worked well in Georgia. We think the people are more important than the name."
In a news release about the deal, Bank of the Ozarks Chairman and CEO George Gleason said the acquisition provides his company "an entree for further expansion" into South Carolina and other states, including North Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.
The company already has a loan production office in Charlotte, N.C., and entered Georgia in March with the Unity Bank deal.
Woodlands’ has offices in in four states in Bluffton and Beaufort, S.C.; Southport and Wilmington, N.C.; Savannah, Ga.; and Mobile, Ala.
Woodlands Bank was the subject of a cease-and-desist order (PDF) issued a year ago today by the Office of Thrift Supervision for problems with its mortgage portfolio and its capital levels. That was followed by a $16,170 fine in February (PDF) for failing to comply with national flood insurance requirements and then, in March, the OTS ordered "prompt corrective action" (PDF) to bring its capital up to snuff.
On Monday, Bank of the Ozarks (Nasdaq: %%OZRK%%) reported earnings of $10.89 million in the second quarter, up 14.6 percent compared with the second quarter of 2009. Earnings per share reached 64 cents, a 14.3 percent increase from the year-ago period.
Bank of the Ozarks had $2.88 billion in assets as of June 30.
More on FDIC-Assisted Bank Deals
Bank of the Ozarks isn’t the only Arkansas bank expanding with the help of FDIC-assisted deals. In May, this Arkansas Business cover story examined Centennial Bank of Conway’s plans to grow through similar deals. Also: How FDIC-assisted deals come together.
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