Union Planters Corp. agreed Wednesday to buy Capital Bancorp for about $360 million in stock to enter the consolidating Florida banking market.
With the acquisition, its first foray into Florida, Memphis-based Union Planters gains 28 offices and about $1.9 billion in assets in southern Florida.
The offer, about $43 a share for Miami-based Capital Bancorp, is below Tuesday’s record closing price of $46. But Capital’s shares had surged 14 percent in the last month on speculation it would be taken over.
“It’s not in a contiguous market, so there can’t be any branch overlap,” said Jacqueline Reeves, an analyst at Smith Barney Inc. She said the price “doesn’t seem to be out of kilter.”
Fast-growing Florida has been the site of other recent acquisitions. Wachovia Corp. agreed last week to buy Boca Raton-based 1st United Bancorp for $222 million to enter the state.
