Later this year, Platinum Bank Holding Company shareholders are expected to approve the acquisition of Platinum by CenterState Bank Inc., Florida’s second largest community bank.
In Plant City, that means the Platinum Bank location at 1804 James L. Redman Parkway will become the primary CenterState location in town.
“This location is staying,” David Sullivan, senior executive vice president at Platinum Bank, said. “The CenterState near Midtown is closing, and they will move over here.”
In addition to the Plant City location, CenterState will acquire a total of seven locations in the merger, which was announced in October 2016. Additional locations are in Lakeland, Tampa and Winter Haven. Once the acquisition is complete, CenterState will have over 80 offices throughout Florida.
The tentative approval date is April 1, 2017. Platinum currently has assets of $584 million. Once the acquisition is complete, the combined company would have about $5.6 billion in assets.
“We’ve kind of followed the I-4 corridor,” Sullivan, who joined the Platinum team in 1997 as an original team member, said. He will retain his position under the CenterState name. “Our model has always been to find a banker … that’s geographically oriented. CenterState has a similar model, and is such a good fit for the culture at Platinum Bank. If I had to hand pick, I’d pick CenterState.”
In October, the merger was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
“We are delighted to announce this partnership with Platinum Bank,” John Corbett, president and CEO of CenterState Bank, said in a statement. “We want to extend a warm welcome to Platinum’s employees and customers, and we look forward to continuing their tradition of service in Polk, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.”
CenterState first launched over 25 years ago. In addition to Platinum, its most recent acquisition took place in the first quarter of 2016 when the company obtained Community Bank of Florida and National Bank of South Florida.
The merger does not mean significant changes for customers, as both banks use the same processing system.
“Data conversion is scheduled to take place in April,” Sullivan said. “From a customer standpoint, changes will be minimal.”
Platinum Bank staff is pleased that the company culture will continue to be one that was maintained over the last 20 years.
“We have known the team at CenterState for many years and are excited to merge with a high-performing community bank that shares our values and customer centric culture,” Jerry Kyle, president and CEO of Platinum Bank, said in a statement. “With a larger footprint and product mix, our team will be able to build on the success of the past and provide a greater level of service to our customers.”
In addition to Platinum’s shareholders, the acquisition must also undergo regulatory approvals.
“It was a difficult decision,” Sullivan said. “It was just a number of issues. The primary driver was due to regulatory pressures. We match with CenterState philosophically and thought it was the time to sell.”
Though no jobs will be created through the acquisition immediately, Sullivan hopes that a credit analyst will be brought into the region within the next year.
“That depends on growth,” he said. “CenterState has been very good about meeting with people. I’m pleased about what I’ve seen.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.