Georgia Banking strikes deal to expand in Atlanta suburbs

Georgia Banking in Atlanta said it would pay $58 million in cash and stock to acquire crosstown rival Peoples Banktrust in a bid for greater scale and deeper suburban market penetration.

The deal, announced Wednesday and expected to close in the first quarter of 2022, would create a bank with $1.2 billion of deposits and $800 million of loans. It would be the fifth-largest bank based in the Atlanta metropolitan area by deposit market share.

The $1 billion-asset Georgia Banking said the acquisition of Peoples, in Buford, Georgia, would boost its assets to $1.4 billion, providing resources needed to continue investing in technology and new products to compete with larger lenders. The acquisition would also expand Georgia Banking’s footprint across Gwinnett County, a fast-growing suburban market with nearly 1 million residents.

"Expanding our franchise to serve the people of the broader metro Atlanta community is at the core of our strategic vision,” Georgia Banking CEO Bartow Morgan Jr. said in a press release. “The acquisition grows our market share and provides us an excellent opportunity to broaden our footprint.”

Doug Nichols, chairman and CEO of Peoples, said the merger with Georgia Banking would provide “a broader range of capabilities and new business opportunities."

An ownership group of investors led by Morgan recapitalized Georgia Banking in February. The group raised $180 million to fund growth and build a commercial and private banking franchise “with the technology and breadth of products to serve middle market businesses across metro Atlanta,” Georgia Banking said.

Formed in 1998, Georgia Banking had focused on mortgage warehouse lending, construction lending and retail banking.

Previously, Morgan was CEO of Brand Group Holdings in Atlanta until it was sold in 2018 to Renasant in Tupelo, Mississippi, for $453 million. His family had run Brand Bank since its founding in 1905.

Georgia Banking did not disclose other terms of the Peoples deal.