U.S. SmartBank and Entegra Bank to merge in $160 million deal

U.S. banking products and services provider SmartBank, a unit of SmartFinancial, is combining with peer Entegra Bank, a subsidiary of Entegra Financial, to increase in size and extend its footprint to more than 6 states in the Southeast.

SmartFinancial revealed that it has agreed to merge with Entegra Financial Corp. later this year. Under the terms of the deal, SmartFinancial shareholders will own 62 percent of the merged company and Entegra shareholders will get the other 38 percent share.

Smart Financial will offer around $160 million of its stock to buy Entegra, which will endorse the SmartBank name. The all-stock merger will create a $4 billion-asset bank with 47 branches in six Southeastern states.

SmartFinancial said that the collaboration bolsters both companies in all key areas and presents an imperative value proposition for each of the companies’ constituents.