WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – October 10, 2007 – A team of Gunster Yoakley attorneys led by Corporate Department Chair Michael V. Mitrione represented Boca Raton, Fla.-based 1st United Bank in its $55.6 million purchase of Equitable Bank of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
The two banks executed a definitive agreement to merge and to combine Equitable Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Equitable Financial Group with $190 million in assets and $23.3 million in equity, into 1st United Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of 1st United Bancorp with $350 million in assets and $50.7 million in equity.
“We anticipate the closing of this transaction will be in the 1st quarter of 2008 following Equitable shareholder and regulatory approval,” said Mitrione. “Both companies have excellent asset quality and are well capitalized to create a combined bank with approximately $600 million in assets and 13 banking centers throughout South Florida.”
“The scope and complexity of this transaction required Gunster Yoakley to utilize a number of its full-service capabilities and resources from three of its largest South Florida offices,” added Mitrione. “The firm has extensive experience representing U.S. and foreign banks and other financial institutions in a variety of sophisticated regulatory and corporate matters.”
Mitrione (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Gregory K. Bader (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), and David C. Scileppi (Fort Lauderdale) handled the multifaceted mergers and acquisitions, securities, and bank regulatory issues, while Mark J. Scheer (Miami) focused on the tax; James B. Davis (Fort Lauderdale) on ERISA; and Marybeth Bosko (Fort Lauderdale) on securities issues.
The attorneys with Gunster Yoakley’s Securities/Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Groups have worked at some of the most prominent Wall Street law firms, while others have honed their skills as in-house counsel to Fortune 500 companies. The firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group is an industry-focused, multidisciplinary team comprised of regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, securities, broker-dealer, investment adviser, general corporate, international, litigation and creditors’ rights attorneys.
Mitrione, who is AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been included in Best Lawyers in America for corporate law since 1991, focuses his legal practice in mergers and acquisitions; private equity and venture capital transactions; corporate finance and securities; joint ventures and partnerships; and financial institutions.
Bader, an AV-Rated shareholder in the firm’s Corporate Department, concentrates his practice on mergers and acquisitions; banking law compliance; corporate finance and capital market transactions; consumer finance and mortgage lending law; SEC compliance; and corporate governance.
Devoting much of his work to providing lending and regulatory compliance advice to the banking industry, Corporate Department attorney Scileppi also focuses his legal practice on corporate governance; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; and federal and state securities laws.
Scheer is an AV-Rated shareholder and member of the firm’s Corporate and Private Wealth Services Departments. He focuses his practice in international, federal and state taxation; trusts and estates; international business transactions and joint ventures; foreign trusts; as well as corporate structuring and transactions.
An AV-Rated shareholder in the firm’s Corporate Department, Davis advises clients in the areas of employee benefits; corporate and business law; taxation; and estate planning. He also is named in Best Lawyers in America and Chambers & Partners USA.
The former Corporate Counsel and Director of Corporate Finance for Worthington Industries, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, Bosko, a shareholder in Gunster Yoakley’s Corporate Department, handles mergers and acquisitions; capital markets and corporate finance transactions; public company and private entity debt and equity issuances; acquisitions financings and private placements; securities compliance; stock and asset acquisitions and dispositions; and corporate governance.
About Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart
Gunster Yoakley, established in 1925, offers a broad range of legal services to its client base of businesses, institutions, local governments, and prominent individuals. Gunster Yoakley has offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Palm Beach, Stuart, Vero Beach and West Palm Beach. Gunster Yoakley is home to more than 130 attorneys and over 200 dedicated support staff providing counsel to clients through numerous practice groups including corporate, litigation, real estate, and trusts and estates. For more information, visit www.gunster.com or call 1-800 749-1980
