A major New York firm headed South recently to help with the acquisition of a troubled Georgia bank.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz lawyers represented Columbia, S.C.-based SCBT Financial Corp. in its agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to assume all deposits and some of the liabilities of Community Bank & Trust, based in Cornelia.
The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed the bank in January, and appointed the FDIC as receiver. Community Bank & Trust was founded in 1900 and operates 36 banks in 10 Georgia counties. Based on a June 2009 FDIC summary of deposits, ranked 7th in market share statewide.
According to a transaction overview SCBT provided in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the bank purchased approximately $1 billion in assets and $753 million in loans, with the FDIC assuming 80 percent of losses—which include acquired loans and foreclosed real estate—up to a threshold of $233 million. The FDIC will assume 95 percent of losses in excess of that. The filing also said SCBT assumed approximately $1.1 billion in deposits, for which the bank did not pay a premium.
Matthew M. Guest, the lead Wachtell partner for SCBT on the deal, did not return a call seeking comment. Community Bank & Trust was represented by FDIC in-house counsel.
The transaction closed Jan. 29.