Two New York law firms are handling a Southern bank deal worth about $130.6 million.
Greenville, S.C.-based The South Financial Group, represented by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, has agreed to merge with a wholly-owned subsidiary of TD Bank Financial Group, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine. TD is represented by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
As part of the deal, TD will acquire all of The South Financial Group, including all deposits of Carolina First Bank, which also operates as Mercantile Bank in Florida.
Under the terms of the deal, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, The South Financial Group’s common shareholders will receive, at their election, 28 cents in cash or 0.004 shares of TD common stock for each of their shares of The South Financial Group for a total of about $61 million in cash or common stock. Also, just prior to the completion of the merger, the Department of the Treasury is slated to sell TD its $327 million in The South Financial Group’s preferred stock and an associated warrant acquired under the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program, discharging accrued but unpaid dividends on that stock for total cash consideration of about $130.6 million.