A deal team led by B.T. Atkinson represented Carolina Financial Corporation, parent company of CresCom Bank in Charleston, S.C., in the closing of a merger with United Bankshares, Inc., the parent company of United Bank in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 2020. The combined organization has approximately $25 billion in assets and ranks in the top 35 largest banks in the United States based on market capitalization. The merger brings together two of the best-performing banking companies in the country and positions the pro forma franchise as the leading community bank in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

The Nelson Mullins team also included Neil Grayson, Ben Barnhill, and Brittany McIntosh on corporate, securities, and executive employment matters; Ken Janik on employee benefits; and Maurice Holloway on tax. Gary Brown and John Jennings also played a significant role in addressing disclosure and corporate governance issues in the transaction.

The transaction had two interesting features. One is that Carolina Financial executed and announced the definitive agreement with United while its acquisition of another publicly traded bank holding company was pending. Another relates to the special meeting of Carolina Financial’s stockholders. The original notice indicated that the meeting was to be held on April 2 in the clubhouse of the Country Club of Charleston, which was unexpectedly closed per governmental order due to COVID-19. The notice was supplemented in the 11th hour  to indicate that the meeting could also be attended virtually, and the physical meeting was held in the parking lot of the club. The aggregate deal value is approximately $1 billion.