The Sandy Spring deal marks Atlantic Union’s largest ever acquisition.
April Fool’s Day was all business for Atlantic Union Bank, as it completed its leap to become a nearly $40 billion regional banking powerhouse.
The Richmond-based company on Tuesday finalized its acquisition of Maryland peer Sandy Spring Bank in an all-stock deal valued at $1.3 billion.
Adding Sandy Spring’s $14 billion in assets to AUB’s $25 billion, the resulting institution now has approximately $39 billion in total assets. It also counts $32.1 billion in total deposits, $30.0 billion in total loans and a $13 billion wealth management arm.
The transaction combines AUB’s 129 branches spanning most of Virginia and parts of North Carolina, with Sandy Spring’s 53 outposts in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, and completes AUB’s goal of covering the ‘Golden Crescent,’ the name of the stretch from the Greater Washington D.C. area, down through Richmond and into Hampton Roads.
John Asbury
“We’re the number one regional bank in Virginia and Maryland… that has never been done before and will never be done again,” said AUB chief executive John Asbury, who will lead the combined organizations. “We would argue you can’t replicate the franchise.”
Atlantic Union will be the surviving brand once the banks complete their total systems conversion this summer. That will mark an end to the Sandy Spring name that dates to the bank’s founding in 1868 by a group of Quakers in Maryland.
The combined banks will be headquartered from AUB’s home base in the James Center in downtown Richmond.
Absorbing Sandy Spring marks largest ever acquisition and its fifth acquisition in the last decade. Last year it acquired American National Bank, a $3 billion institution in Danville. Its other previous deals included taking on Northern Virginia’s Access National Bank, Christiansburg-based StellarOne Bank and Richmond-based Xenith Bank.
The combined companies have 3,000 employees. While some reduction in workforce is typical in such deals, Asbury said AUB has offered jobs to 77% of all Sandy Spring employees.
AUB also plans to add 48 new positions in the Richmond region as a result of the combination, most of which will be based in its Innsbrook office.
It also is adding three new branches as part of a commitment it made to invest in lower income areas in Sandy Spring’s markets. The first of those will open in Woodbridge in Northern Virginia, followed by one in the city of Baltimore and one in Prince Georges County in Maryland.
Asbury, along with AUB President and COO Maria Tedesco, said their focus as the bank’s top leaders is to ensure a smooth transition for the employees and customers of the combined institutions.
They were both in Sandy Spring territory on Tuesday visiting offices there and continuing a road show they began last year.
Maria Tedesco
“The visibility helps because we are combining the cultures and we want to make a smooth customer transition,” Tedesco said.
Asbury said the bank is also focused on not letting its newfound size bog it down in big-company red tape.
“Think big, act small,” is one of the bank’s mantra’s as it has grown larger, Asbury said. “It’s one of the things we fight the most… you don’t want bureaucracy to set it.”
With the deal closed, Asbury said the bank will be focused in the near-term on integrating Sandy Spring and keeping a close eye on the health of the economy. He said the prospect of certain policy decisions from the federal government have customers on edge of late.
“What we see is great uncertainty. The whole tariffs narrative has cast a chill across the business community,” Asbury said. “Uncertainty generally leads to hesitation. We need a little bit more clarity.”
Despite the uncertainty, Asbury said AUB’s loan pipeline remains active, as commercial borrowers have generally seemed to begin to accept elevated interest rates.
He said AUB’s various geographical markets have their own strengths and weaknesses.
“Markets like Richmond are among the most resilient,” he said. “Hampton Roads is well positioned. Northern Virginia is a hub for defense technology, which is going to be a winner (based on project federal defense spending).”
A map showing the combined branch footprints of Atlantic Union and Sandy Spring. (Courtesy AUB)
Thinking longer term, Asbury said AUB’s growth will continue in its current markets and further afield.
“We will look to deepen our presence in those markets and will turn south,” he said.
By south, Asbury said he means the Carolinas. It has already made inroads into North Carolina through its acquisition of American National, which had a presence in the Tar Heel State.
“American National was an entry point into North Carolina,” Asbury said. “It was like buying a $1 billion bank down there.”
AUB also said on Tuesday it completed a $350 million capital raise, the proceeds of which will help bolster its capital base to offset $2 billion worth of Sandy Spring commercial real estate loans that had to be sold off as a condition of the transaction.
The Sandy Spring deal marks Atlantic Union’s largest ever acquisition.
April Fool’s Day was all business for Atlantic Union Bank, as it completed its leap to become a nearly $40 billion regional banking powerhouse.
The Richmond-based company on Tuesday finalized its acquisition of Maryland peer Sandy Spring Bank in an all-stock deal valued at $1.3 billion.
Adding Sandy Spring’s $14 billion in assets to AUB’s $25 billion, the resulting institution now has approximately $39 billion in total assets. It also counts $32.1 billion in total deposits, $30.0 billion in total loans and a $13 billion wealth management arm.
The transaction combines AUB’s 129 branches spanning most of Virginia and parts of North Carolina, with Sandy Spring’s 53 outposts in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia, and completes AUB’s goal of covering the ‘Golden Crescent,’ the name of the stretch from the Greater Washington D.C. area, down through Richmond and into Hampton Roads.
John Asbury
“We’re the number one regional bank in Virginia and Maryland… that has never been done before and will never be done again,” said AUB chief executive John Asbury, who will lead the combined organizations. “We would argue you can’t replicate the franchise.”
Atlantic Union will be the surviving brand once the banks complete their total systems conversion this summer. That will mark an end to the Sandy Spring name that dates to the bank’s founding in 1868 by a group of Quakers in Maryland.
The combined banks will be headquartered from AUB’s home base in the James Center in downtown Richmond.
Absorbing Sandy Spring marks largest ever acquisition and its fifth acquisition in the last decade. Last year it acquired American National Bank, a $3 billion institution in Danville. Its other previous deals included taking on Northern Virginia’s Access National Bank, Christiansburg-based StellarOne Bank and Richmond-based Xenith Bank.
The combined companies have 3,000 employees. While some reduction in workforce is typical in such deals, Asbury said AUB has offered jobs to 77% of all Sandy Spring employees.
AUB also plans to add 48 new positions in the Richmond region as a result of the combination, most of which will be based in its Innsbrook office.
It also is adding three new branches as part of a commitment it made to invest in lower income areas in Sandy Spring’s markets. The first of those will open in Woodbridge in Northern Virginia, followed by one in the city of Baltimore and one in Prince Georges County in Maryland.
Asbury, along with AUB President and COO Maria Tedesco, said their focus as the bank’s top leaders is to ensure a smooth transition for the employees and customers of the combined institutions.
They were both in Sandy Spring territory on Tuesday visiting offices there and continuing a road show they began last year.
Maria Tedesco
“The visibility helps because we are combining the cultures and we want to make a smooth customer transition,” Tedesco said.
Asbury said the bank is also focused on not letting its newfound size bog it down in big-company red tape.
“Think big, act small,” is one of the bank’s mantra’s as it has grown larger, Asbury said. “It’s one of the things we fight the most… you don’t want bureaucracy to set it.”
With the deal closed, Asbury said the bank will be focused in the near-term on integrating Sandy Spring and keeping a close eye on the health of the economy. He said the prospect of certain policy decisions from the federal government have customers on edge of late.
“What we see is great uncertainty. The whole tariffs narrative has cast a chill across the business community,” Asbury said. “Uncertainty generally leads to hesitation. We need a little bit more clarity.”
Despite the uncertainty, Asbury said AUB’s loan pipeline remains active, as commercial borrowers have generally seemed to begin to accept elevated interest rates.
He said AUB’s various geographical markets have their own strengths and weaknesses.
“Markets like Richmond are among the most resilient,” he said. “Hampton Roads is well positioned. Northern Virginia is a hub for defense technology, which is going to be a winner (based on project federal defense spending).”
A map showing the combined branch footprints of Atlantic Union and Sandy Spring. (Courtesy AUB)
Thinking longer term, Asbury said AUB’s growth will continue in its current markets and further afield.
“We will look to deepen our presence in those markets and will turn south,” he said.
By south, Asbury said he means the Carolinas. It has already made inroads into North Carolina through its acquisition of American National, which had a presence in the Tar Heel State.
“American National was an entry point into North Carolina,” Asbury said. “It was like buying a $1 billion bank down there.”
AUB also said on Tuesday it completed a $350 million capital raise, the proceeds of which will help bolster its capital base to offset $2 billion worth of Sandy Spring commercial real estate loans that had to be sold off as a condition of the transaction.
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Number 1 Regional Bank…never been done before….by who AUB. Crestar’s HQ was in Richmond with branches across VA, DC, and MD. It was the large regional bank that started in RVA and bought lots of little banks (Planters Bank, Bank of Gloucester, Jefferson Savings and Loan, Citizen’s Bank of Maryland, etc.) in late 1980s and early 1990s. It even bought some Maryland Chase bank branches. It started a push into NC in 1996. It was the largest independent Virginia based bank by 1997. 1 year later it was being acquired by SunTrust. To quote the song “its all been done… Read more »