Sep. 14, 2009 (Business Wire) -- The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSFG) announced that it has completed the sale of three ancillary businesses, which generated approximately $16 million in Tier 1 common capital through the gains realized and the elimination of related intangible assets. The businesses sold include:
- Carolina First Bank’s merchant processing portfolio (completed September 11, 2009);
- Koss Olinger, a financial planning group (completed September 1, 2009); and
- American Pensions, Inc., a retirement plan administrator (completed July 1, 2009).
These actions represent the completion of another component of TSFG’s capital plan, announced in June 2009.
“With the successful execution of these steps of our capital plan, we’re strengthening our common capital position, as we continue to expect a challenging environment ahead,” said H. Lynn Harton, President and Chief Executive Officer of The South Financial Group. “In addition to moving us forward on our capital plan, the sale of these businesses also moves us forward strategically. We’re keeping our focus and resources targeted on our core banking operations and deepening customer relationships. We will continue to offer many of these services to our customers, including expanded merchant service offerings, and share in the revenues as well.”
TSFG sold the merchant processing portfolio of its subsidiary bank to Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and a leading global payments provider, and entered into a marketing alliance with Elavon for new merchant services referrals. Under this agreement, Elavon will provide flexible payment processing solutions for TSFG’s new and existing merchant customers in the Carolinas and Florida.
About The South Financial Group
The South Financial Group is a bank holding company focused on serving small businesses, middle market companies, and retail customers in the Carolinas and Florida. At June 30, 2009, it had approximately $12.6 billion in total assets and 177 branch offices. TSFG operates Carolina First Bank, which conducts banking operations in North Carolina and South Carolina (as Carolina First Bank), in Florida (as Mercantile Bank), and on the Internet (as Bank CaroLine). At June 30, 2009, approximately 46% of TSFG’s total customer deposits were in South Carolina, 42% were in Florida, and 12% were in North Carolina. Investor information is available at www.thesouthgroup.com.
