North American Financial Holdings, Inc. Acquires Three Failed Banks from the FDIC

MIAMI, July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- North American Financial Holdings, Inc. (NAFH) today acquired from the FDIC substantially all of the assets, all deposits, and certain other liabilities of three failed institutions:  MetroBank of Dade County, Turnberry Bank, and First National Bank of the South.  NAFH consummated today's acquisitions through NAFH National Bank, which is a newly formed FDIC-insured national bank.

These simultaneous acquisitions give NAFH a strong presence in attractive banking markets, with 10 branches in the Miami area and 13 branches throughout South Carolina.  Today's transaction follows the recent announcement by NAFH of its agreement to recapitalize TIB Financial Corp., which operates 28 branches in southwest Florida.

"We are very pleased to have acquired these three banks.  Together with our planned investment in TIB Bank, today's transaction continues our progress toward building a strongly capitalized, high performing, regional bank," said Gene Taylor, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAFH.  "These institutions have outstanding employees and loyal customers.  We are committed to ensuring that there is no interruption in service and that our service is consistently at the highest levels."

Branches of the acquired institutions will reopen during normal business hours as branches of NAFH National Bank using their current names.  Depositors of the acquired institutions will automatically become depositors of NAFH National Bank, and their deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC up to applicable limits.  Additional information for customers and other interested parties is available on the FDIC's website at www.fdic.gov.

As of March 31, 2010, MetroBank of Dade County had total assets of $442.3 million and total deposits of $391.3 million.  Turnberry Bank had total assets of $263.9 million and total deposits of $196.9 million.  First National Bank of the South had total assets of $682.0 million and total deposits of $610.1 million.  In addition to assuming all of the deposits from the two Florida institutions and one South Carolina institution, NAFH National Bank acquired essentially all of their assets and certain other liabilities.  NAFH National Bank and the FDIC entered into loss-share agreements with respect to approximately $1 billion of the acquired assets.

"NAFH was formed to invest in strategically important franchises that, due to the unprecedented real estate downturn, have been left undercapitalized.  MetroBank of Dade County, Turnberry Bank, and First National Bank of the South are located in important banking markets, with populations and income levels projected to be among the fastest growing in the United States.  They are now part of one of the country's best capitalized community banks, enabling them to better serve their customers and communities," said Christopher Marshall, the Chief Financial Officer of NAFH.

UBS Investment Bank served as financial advisor and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal advisor to NAFH.

About North American Financial Holdings, Inc.

North American Financial Holdings, Inc. is a bank holding company that raised approximately $900 million of equity capital, which it intends to invest in failed and undercapitalized banks with the goal of establishing a strongly capitalized, high performance, regional bank.  NAFH is led by a team of seasoned bank executives.

R. Eugene (Gene) Taylor (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) retired as Vice Chairman of Bank of America following a 38-year career during which he served as President of Bank of America's Consumer and Commercial Bank and the Global Corporate and Investment Bank.  He is a native Floridian and a graduate of the Florida State University School of Business.

Christopher (Chris) G. Marshall (Chief Financial Officer) previously served as CFO and COO of Bank of America's Global Consumer and Small Business Bank and as CFO of Fifth Third Bank.  Mr. Marshall is a graduate of the University of Florida and Pepperdine University School of Business.

R. Bruce Singletary (Chief Risk Officer) spent 31 years at Bank of America in various credit risk roles, including serving as Chief Risk Officer for Bank of America's Florida Bank.  Mr. Singletary graduated from Clemson University and earned an MBA from Georgia State University. Mr. Singletary resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Kenneth (Ken) A. Posner spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley, most recently serving as a Managing Director and equity research analyst for a wide range of financial services firms.  Mr. Posner is a graduate of Yale College and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.

SOURCE North American Financial Holdings, Inc.