Bank finds opportunity in industry upheaval

Mergers and acquisitions consultants and attorneys in the banking sector have been as busy as lifeguards in a non-pandemic summer, working on multiple deals with an outsized impact on Florida.

The list includes First Horizon buying IberiaBank and South State merging with Polk County-based CenterState, both which recently closed. On a more local basis, Stuart-based Seacoast National Bank’s $40 million acquisition of St. Petersburg-based Freedom Bank closed Aug. 18. And the big one, of course, is BB&T and SunTrust, a $66 billion merger that created the sixth largest bank in the country by assets, with $460 billion, under the name Truist.