Coral Gables, Fla.-based Banesco USA agreed to acquire Miami-based Brickell Bank from its principal shareholder, Banco Espírito Santo SA, which is in liquidation.
The combined company will be under Banesco USA's branding.
In March 2018, the Swiss family behind private bank CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA was set to acquire Brickell Bank for $11.0 million. Joseph Benhamou and his family are major shareholders of CBH, which has operations in London, Hong Kong, the Bahamas and Tel Aviv.
That deal appears to have fallen through, with Banesco stepping in as a new buyer.
S&P Global Market Intelligence valuations for bank and thrift targets in the Southeast region between May 14, 2018, and May 14, 2019, averaged 164.01% of book and 176.39% of tangible book and had a median of 21.38x last-12-months earnings, on an aggregate basis.
Banesco USA will expand in Miami-Dade County, Fla., by one branch to be ranked No. 22 with a 0.9% share of approximately $138.91 billion in total market deposits.
Banesco USA has total assets of $1.32 billion, and Brickell Bank has total assets of $439.8 million, both as of March 31, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP was Banesco USA's legal adviser, and DD&F Consulting acted as financial adviser. Shutts & Bowen LLP was Brickell Bank's legal adviser.
