IberiaBank's acquisition sets price benchmark

IberiaBank's planned acquisition of Florida Gulf Bank in Fort Myers sends mixed messages about the future of community banking in the region.

On the one hand, it's welcome news that IberiaBank agreed to pay 1.4 times book value for Florida Gulf Bancorp, the parent of Florida Gulf Bank. That's more than many Florida banks have been trading for in recent years. “No one's losing money on this deal,” says James Moore, Florida Gulf's chairman.

The nearly $44 million price tag sets a price-to-book benchmark for smaller community banks on the Gulf Coast that have survived the downturn, but it's not exactly the windfall that many investors might have expected.