Synovus Financial Corp. to buy Community Financial Group for 2.15 times revenue

Weekly Corporate Growth Report, May 13, 2002

The Deal: Synovus Financial Corporation has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Community Financial Group. Shareholders of Community Financial will receive 0.9690 shares of Synovus for each share of Community Financial. Based on the value of Synovus shares at the time the deal was announced, the total deal value is approximately $81.2 million. The transaction is expected to close in the next three months.

Discussion: Community Financial Group is the bank holding company for The Bank of Nashville. The Bank of Nashville operates about five branches in the metropolitan Nashville area. The bank targets small and mid-sized businesses, offering commercial and commercial real estate loans. The bank also offers residential mortgages, construction, and consumer loans.

Synovus is the holding company for about 40 small-town banks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. These banks have a combined total of more than 200 office locations, through which they offer retail banking, credit cards, trust services, mortgage banking, insurance, and securities brokerage services.

The acquisition of Community Financial will allow provide Synovus with significant growth opportunities in the Nashville market. The Nashville economy has performed very well in recent years, according to Synovus vice chairman, Richard Anthony.