Seacoast Banking to Acquire Citizens First Bank’s Parent Company
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Villages Bancorporation, Inc. (VBI)—the holding company of Citizens First Bank in The Villages—in a deal valued at approximately $710.8 million. The agreement specifies that VBI shareholders may elect to receive $1,000 in cash per share, 38.5 shares of Seacoast common stock, or a combination of both. The deal includes a proration structure where 25% of the consideration will be in cash and 75% in stock; any shareholder exceeding a 9.75% ownership in Seacoast post-transaction will receive non-voting convertible preferred stock instead.
The Villages is a dynamic, master-planned community with around 150,000 residents, making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the U.S. (seacoastbanking.com). VBI, ranked as Florida’s 11th-largest bank, oversees 19 branches, with assets totaling $4.1 billion, deposits around $3.5 billion, and loans worth approximately $1.3 billion as of March 31, 2025. Notably, Citizens First Bank captures over 50% of the deposit share in the Wildwood–The Villages metropolitan area.
This acquisition bolsters Seacoast’s presence in central Florida—and will grow its footprint with 19 additional branchesin a fast-expanding market. Pro forma, including this deal and a recent acquisition of Heartland Bancshares, Seacoast’s assets are projected to reach $21 billion, with $17 billion in deposits and $12 billion in gross loans. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, and Seacoast anticipates the deal will be 22% accretive to earnings per share in 2026, with tangible book-value dilution recouped in less than three years