NationsBank Corp. has agreed to buy Bank South Corp. for $1.6 billion in stock, the banks announced Tuesday. The deal is the latest in a recent series of multibillion dollar mergers in the banking industry.
Bank South has been rumored as a takeover target for more than two years and is the fifth largest bank in Georgia with assets of $7.4 billion.The latest merger, unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, provides for each share of Bank South common stock to be exchanged for .44 share of NationsBank common stock.
Based on Friday's closing price of $61.50 per share for Nations-Bank stock, that makes the purchase price about $27 per share - 16 percent higher than Friday's closing stock price for Bank South stock.
Atlanta-based Bank South is worth the price, said Ken Lewis, president of Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank. "Bank South is a well positioned bank in one of the most attractive markets in the country."
Bank South has 149 offices in Georgia, including 60 in supermarkets, and has 267 automated teller machines, more than any other bank in the state. It has $7.4 billion in assets and $5.1 billion in deposits.
NationsBank has $184 billion in assets with offices in nine states and Washington, D.C.