A $1.1 billion deal makes Fifth Third competitive in one of the nation’s financial capitals

With national banking giants Bank of America and Wachovia Corp. headquartered there, Charlotte, N.C. is a financial capital, second only to New York City. Cincinnati’s homegrown bank,Fifth Third Bancorp, enters that thriving market in a big way with its just-completed acquisition of First Charter Corp. The deal brings $4.8 billion in assets, $3.2 billion in deposits and 59 branches (57 in North Carolina, two in Atlanta) into Fifth Third’s portfolio. It immediately makes Fifth Third the fourth-ranking bank in the Charlotte market (based on total deposits) and seventh overall in North Carolina. “This acquisition gives Fifth Third Bank a solid foothold into an additional fast growing Southeastern metropolitan market,” says Kevin Kabat, Fifth Third’s CEO. He says about a quarter of Fifth Third’s banking centers are now in the Southeast, “which is quite a change from just a short while ago.” Fifth Third is already one of the nation’s largest regional banks, with $111 billion in assets and more than 1,200 banking centers in 12 states.
 
Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Debra DeCourcy, Fifth Third Bancorp