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First Horizon (FHN) Receives Fed Nod to Acquire Capital Bank

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Tennessee-based First Horizon National Corporation (FHN - Free Report) received regulatory approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to acquire Charlotte, N.C.-based Capital Bank Financial Corp. . Per the deal, the former will acquire the latter for a total value of $2.2 billion in a stock-cash deal. The combined entity will form the fourth-largest regional bank in the Southeast.

Board members of both companies have approved the merger. However, customary approvals by regulators and shareholders of both companies are yet to be received. The transaction, which was first announced in May 2017, is anticipated to close in fourth-quarter 2017.

At the time of the announcement, Bryan Jordan, chairman and CEO of First Horizon was optimistic about the deal because the company will be able to achieve their financial targets more easily with the help of the team at Capital Bank.

As per the terms of the deal, each common shareholder of Capital Bank will get cash or stock equivalent to 1.750 of First Horizon shares and $7.90 in cash for every Capital Bank share held, subject to certain conditions. The deal has been agreed at 80% stock and 20% cash. Specifically, Capital Bank shareholders in total will own about 29% of First Horizon’s common shares and $411 million in cash.

After completion of the deal, First Horizon will continue with its First Tennessee bank brand in Tennessee, while the Capital Bank name will be used for branches outside Tennessee.

Barclays Capital Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors for First Horizon.

The company’s reorganization efforts, which are still ongoing, are helping it to reallocate capital into the core markets. Also, its concentration on controlling costs are expected to support bottom-line growth.

The company's share price rose nearly 22.1% over the past 12 months versus the  industry’s growth of 33%.


Currently, First Horizon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the financial space are Capstar Financial Holdings Inc. (CSTR - Free Report) and Farmers Capital Bank Corporation , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CapstarFinancial’s current-year earnings estimates have been revised nearly 38.1% upward over the past 30 days. Moreover, its share price has increased 21.2% in the last 12 months.

Farmers Capital’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has moved about 5.3% upward over the past 60 days. Further, the company’s share price has witnessed a rise of 34.5% in the last 12 months.

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