Aug. 31--If you remember banking in the early 1980s, Iberiabank Corp.'s acquisition of the failed CapitalSouth Bank might have seemed like deja vu.

Back in those days, interstate banking laws were much more restrictive, making it difficult for out-of-state banks to enter the lucrative Florida market. But one way into the state was to buy a failed bank. So strong banks would take advantage of any opportunity to buy even the smallest failed Florida bank to gain a toehold in the state.

CapitalSouth was not a major player in Jacksonville, ranking 24th in deposits with only a 0.4 percent local market share, according to the most recent FDIC data. Three of the Birmingham-based bank's 10 branches were in the Jacksonville market, with the rest in Alabama. But by buying the CapitalSouth branches in a government-assisted deal on Aug. 21, Iberiabank entered the Florida market for the first time.

Iberiabank is headquartered in Lafayette, La., and now has 101 branches in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas and Florida. While other banks are faltering, Iberiabank would have to be considered one of the strongest banks around, as it has remained profitable every quarter through the recession.

Analysts have been expecting Iberiabank to take advantage of its strength and seek expansion opportunities like CapitalSouth.

"This is the second FDIC-assisted acquisition for Iberiabank in the past 15 months, and given Iberiabank's fortress balance sheet and management expertise, we do not believe it will be the last accretive gift from the FDIC over this cycle," Wunderlich Securities analyst Kevin Reynolds said in a research note.

Although the bank entered Florida with the deal, it indicated more interest in CapitalSouth's Alabama offices.

"We are particularly excited about our opportunities to expand in Alabama. We expressed our commitment to make Alabama a priority when we opened our first branch in Mobile earlier this year," Iberiabank CEO Daryl Byrd said in a news release.

The deal came a week after BB&T Corp. acquired another failed Alabama-based bank, Colonial Bank, which had three branches in St. Johns County. That merger creates an interesting opportunity for Iberiabank.

"The [CapitalSouth] transaction places Iberiabank in attractive Alabama markets that will be impacted by the Colonial Bank sale to BB&T, providing talent and/or customer acquisition opportunities for Iberiabank," Soleil Securities analyst Gary Tenner said in a research note.

CapitalSouth was strictly an Alabama bank before opening its first branch outside the state in Jacksonville in 2005.