Merger yields Encore National

Four former branches of Houston-based Encore Bancshares will merge with National Bank of Southwest Florida to create Encore National Bank, having received regulatory approval for the deal earlier this week.

Nine months ago, when Encore Bancshares was looking to sell its Florida assets, area banker Thomas Ray orchestrated a buyout of four Encore branches located in Southwest Florida. National Bank of Southwest Florida, based in Port Charlotte, would combine with a private venture called Ovation Holdings to complete the deal.

Now that regulators have signed off on it, the deal is done.

The new bank has five branches in all: two in Naples, and one in Fort Myers, Sun City Center and Port Charlotte. When Ray first began discussing a potential deal, he estimated the new bank would manage about $230 million in assets.

The Business Review first reported on the framework of today's merger in March. http://www.review.net/section/detail/bank-staging-an-encore-in-florida/