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Bank of the Ozarks' recently proposed acquisition of C1 Bank in St. Petersburg made a big splash in area banking circles.
And if a recent survey of bank executives and directors by Bank Director magazine is any indication, there's more to come. A majority of the survey's respondents see a more favorable climate for bank deals next year.
In the South, 42% of respondents say they plan to purchase a healthy bank and another 11% say they plan to purchase a loan portfolio. In a sign online banking is well established, only 5% of bankers in the South say they plan to purchase one or more branches.
While the majority of bank executives and boards nationally say they plan to grow their institutions, there's surprisingly little agreement that the oft-quoted $1 billion in assets is the right side. In fact, only 32% say that threshold is the right size to compete. Most banks on the Gulf Coast and nationally have assets less than $1 billion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Despite a generally positive outlook on mergers and acquisitions nationally, 46% of respondents say they're beginning to see deteriorating loan-underwriting standards that could lead to credit quality issues in the future.
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