SunTrust buys National Commerce
No sooner had Citizens Bank bought out regional bank than the next merger was announced in the rapidly consolidating banking industry. SunTrust Bank announced it would buy National Commerce Financial in a $7 billion deal.
Given the frenzy in bank mergers, SunTrust apparently saw the acquisition as the only way to keep up with the expanding big boys like Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase. The deal will make Sun Trust the #7 bank in the US, and makes it a stronger consumer abnd small business bank.
SunTrust operates over 1,200 branches across the Southeast, from Maryland to Florida. National Commerce is the holding company for National Bank of Commerce, Central Carolina Bank & Trust, and NBC Bank, along with a major share of First Market Bank in Virginia. It has about 475 branches across the South, and with particular strength in North Carolina, a state that SunTrust does not currently serve. It also operates banks in a number of Wal-Mart stores and has both credit card and insurance operations.
Apparently, SunTrust beat another midsized bank in the bid, Cincinnati's First Third Bancorp, which had similar reasons for wanting to expand. It's an eat-or-be-eaten world. As a Bloomberg report (5/10/04) puts it:
SunTrust Banks Inc. Chief Executive Officer Phillip Humann has been told for three years that his bank is an acquisition target. By agreeing yesterday to buy National Commerce Financial Corp. for $6.98 billion, Humann says he can stay independent.
For now.
8:47:40 PM 
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