COLUMBIA, S.C.—The $1.4-bilion Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union here has agreed to buy Southern Bank’s Georgia branches, the organizations announced.
Palmetto Citizens will take over the physical locations and the majority of deposit and loan accounts tied to Southern Bank’s four Georgia branches. Following the closing, Southern Bank will continue operating as an independent community bank.
As of Sept. 30, 2025, the transaction would transfer roughly $83 million in deposits and about $20 million in loans to Palmetto Citizens.
Palmetto Citizens said it plans to hire all current Southern Bank employees at each of the acquired branches. Southern Financial Corporation estimates that the transaction will be accretive to its tangible book value per share in a range of $0.75 to $1.00 at the closing. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
“For nearly 90 years, Palmetto Citizens has stood for trust, stability, and care for our members and the communities we serve,” said Robert Dozier, president and CEO of Palmetto Citizens. “This agreement represents an exciting opportunity to build on that legacy as we thoughtfully expand our service beyond South Carolina and into Georgia. We look forward to welcoming these new members into the Palmetto Citizens family and providing them with the same personal, community-focused service and value that have long defined who we are.”
“As Southern Bank has evolved into a commercially focused community bank over the past couple years, we began assessing our options related to portions of our enterprise that did not entirely fit the new business plan,” said Jamin Hujik, executive vice chairman of Southern Bank. “Once identified, we set out to find the best possible overall result for our shareholders, team members, customers and communities related to that portion of our business.
“The sale of our Georgia branches to Palmetto Citizens will provide additional capital for the continued growth of the bank for shareholders and a strong consumer and community focused partner for our team members, customers and communities,” continued Hujik.
Michael Bell, partner and chair of the Financial Institutions Practice Group at Honigman, LLP, which is representing Palmetto Citizens, highlighted the increasing appeal of bank branches to credit unions.
“CU purchases of bank branches have clicked along nicely in 2025 creating win-wins for CUs, community banks, employees, customers and communities,” said the pioneer of CU purchases of banks. “Main Street America wins when free markets are allowed to work.”
Bell has been part of more than 75 whole-bank agreements plus additional bank branch purchases.