Daily Record Financial News &
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 229 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Ameris buying Jacksonville Bank $96.6M deal comes as Georgia bank opening Southbank office
By Mark Basch Contributing Writer As Ameris Bancorp prepares to move its top executives to the Downtown Southbank, the company is expanding its operations in Jacksonville even more by acquiring a local bank. Ameris on Thursday morning announced a $96.6 million agreement to buy Jacksonville Bancorp Inc., parent company of The Jacksonville Bank. Ameris is officially headquar-
tered in Moultrie, Ga., but it recently signed a lease to move into the Riverplace Tower on the Southbank and post its name atop the 28-story building. The acquisition of Jacksonville Bancorp “will accelerate our growth momentum in the greater Jacksonville, Fla., market,” Ameris CEO Edwin Hortman said in a news release. Ameris has 11 branches in the Jacksonville metropolitan area and Jacksonville Bank has nine, according to Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. data. Jacksonville Bank is the largest community bank headquartered in Jacksonville. But with $427 million in deposits Hortman as of June 30, it has just a 0.8 percent share of all deposits in the Jacksonville area, according to FDIC data. Ameris’ Jacksonville branches
have $518 million in deposits, giving it a 0.9 percent share. Ameris will have a total of 101 branches in four states with $4.9 billion in deposits after completing the acquisition, which it expects to do in the first quarter of 2016. Under the merger agreement, Ameris intends to pay 75 percent of the $96.6 million purchase price in stock and 25 percent in cash. Jacksonville Bancorp shareholders will receive either 0.5861 shares of Ameris stock or $16.50
in cash for their shares, which closed Wednesday at $14.94. Ameris closed at $28.75 Wednesday, making the value of 0.5861 shares of its stock $16.85. “We are excited to announce our merger with Ameris. We admire the strong commitment Ameris shows to customers and communities they serve, and we look forward to offering that experience to our customers,” Jacksonville Bancorp CEO Kendall Spencer said in the news release.
No tax Spend a little to save a lot hike in pension ‘Plan A’
Curry pledges proposal by end of year for $2.7B unfunded liability
Mayor Lenny Curry’s first budget goes into effect today. It also marks the point where he’ll stop talking about the spending plan and instead focus on what’s next. That includes unfunded pension liabilities, the $2.7 billion problem without a funding solution. It’s an issue he’s pledged to solve in his four years. It’s also one that could have failures before success. Plan A might not work, he said, so it’d be on to Plan B. Plan B could lead to Plan C. A Plan D might hatch, if necessary. “We’re going to solve that problem,” he told members of a JAX Chamber young professionals group Wednesday. He said the first attempt to solve pension woes are still in conceptual stages, numerous Curry options are on the table “that I am going to explore deeply.” What those options are he declined to elaborate, saying it could be “detrimental to success.” Yet, there is one item that isn’t on the table. Plan A won’t include a tax increase. “You never start with a new tax on people,” he said. For more than a year, some City Council members have seen that as a viable option. Council member Bill Gulliford says a sales-tax option is one that would be more fair than a property tax increase. It could create more than $60 million to Pension
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Photo by Bobby King
By David Chapman Staff Writer
The Downtown Investment Authority board approved a $200,000 grant from the Downtown Historic Preservation and Revitalization Trust Fund to help the Clara White Mission complete a veterans’ housing project.
DIA approves loan to preserve $3.8M project
By Max Marbut Staff Writer Invest another $400,000 to make it possible for a developer to finish a project — or face paying back $1.7 million in federal funds spent so far on the deal. Faced with that choice, the Downtown Investment Authority on Wednesday approved a $200,000 grant from the Downtown Historic Preservation and Revitalization Trust Fund. The grant will provide 50 percent of the gap financing needed before Clara White Mission, the developer, can secure a $1.1 million private loan to complete a veterans’ housing and service center under construction at 605 Beaver St. The remaining $200,000 is being sought from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund. When complete, the project will include 16 units of affordable rental housing and 4,300 square feet of space on the ground floor to be leased by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a service center. Ju’Coby Pittman, CEO of Clara White,
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said unanticipated construction issues that surfaced during the restoration of the building, designated a local historic landmark, increased the project cost from $2.1 million to $3.8 million. The city already Pittman has invested $1.7 million from Community Development Block Grant program for acquisition, stabilization and construction. If the project is abandoned, the grant would have to be repaid and that’s not an option, said Aundra Wallace, authority CEO. “Jacksonville is not in a position to pay back $1.7 million,” he said. Wallace said the project can be completed with the additional $400,000 from the city, a $550,000 grant from the Depart-
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ment of Veterans Affairs and a $50,000 cash investment from Clara White Mission. With those elements in place, Synovus Bank will loan the developer $1.1 million needed to complete the project. “No Synovus without the $400,000 from the city,” Wallace said. Authority board member and Springfield developer Jack Meeks said historic preservation is “treacherous.” He supported providing the additional funds instead of abandoning the project and putting the city in the position of having to repay what already has been spent. “We’re trying to get the car out of the ditch,” he said. “This is not what we typically do, but this is not a typical situation.” Pittman said the general contractor, Acon Construction Co., has guaranteed the cost of the project will not exceed $3.8 million. If it does, she said, Acon will absorb the additional cost. With the city funding and the Synovus loan secured, the ground floor portion of the project can be complete by Dec. 31 and the apartments about six months later, DIA continued on Page A-4
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