VERO BEACH — CenterState Bank of Florida recently announced the acquisition of two failed banks through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC) – the Community National Bank in Bartow, with approximately $68 million in assets, and Independent National Bank in Ocala with approximately $156 million in assets .
The August transaction adds five more branches to the bank and is expected to raise assets of the parent company, CenterState Banks. Inc, (NASDAQ:CSFL), to approximately $2.3 billion, according to John Corbett, president of CenterState Bank. The two August transactions were in addition to the July acquisition of Olde Cypress Community Bank in Clewiston, a FDIC-assisted transaction. CenterState Bank further announced in July that it would be acquiring four branches of Mercantile Bank in Putnam County pending regulatory approvals.
CenterState is also planning further expansion on the Treasure Coast according to Market Executive, Andy Beindorf. The Vero bank plans to build a 14,000 square foot 2-story building in downtown Vero Beach on an approximately three-acre site fronting U. S. Highway One, 9th Avenue and 20th Place; two blocks east of Vero Beach City Hall. The building is expected to be completed in 18 months. Expansion plans are also being made in Okeechobee and Ft. Pierce. The Vero bank, headed by Beindorf, currently operates out of a leased facility at 801 20th Place in downtown Vero.
Bauer Financial, a Coral Gables Based independent rating firm, recently gave CenterState Bank of Florida a five-star “Superior” rating for safety and soundness, the highest rating awarded by Bauer.