Banking

IberiaBank confirms branch closures, job losses from Teche deal

by Patrick Flanagan

IberiaBank President and CEO Daryl Byrd says a total of eight branches overlap in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Iberia. Closings will include both banks' locations.

New details regarding IberiaBank's buyout of Acadiana-based competitor Teche Holding Co. were divulged during a press conference Monday afternoon at IberiaBank's headquarters in downtown Lafayette.

IberiaBank's Acadiana President Jerry Vascocu and CEO Daryl Byrd

IberiaBank President and CEO Daryl Byrd confirms that a number of branches from both banks will close as a result of the $161 million deal, the terms of which were announced in a press release Monday morning. The exact number of branch closures, however, won't be known until the deal is finalized during the second quarter, Byrd says. He did give an indication of where some possible closures may occur, noting that there is a total of eight IberiaBank branches within one mile of Teche facilities in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Iberia. The closings, he adds, will include both IberiaBank and Teche branches.

Employees of both banks also will impacted by the merger, Byrd says, noting there will be a focus on keeping as many tellers as possible.

"There will be some job eliminations ... but we don't have the numbers," says Byrd. "We won't know the numbers until later on when the deal is finalized. We plan on working through the process and making sure we keep the right people. The goal is to get the best bank in place, and that will require give and take on both sides."

Byrd says attrition will be used to cover as many of the job reductions as possible.

Regarding the fate of Teche's top execs, Chairman, President and CEO Patrick Little and Executive Vice President Ross Little Jr., Byrd says the two will be retained in a temporary advisory capacity, adding, "The Littles are going to be doing extremely well through the transaction ... They had a good morning."

Patrick Little did not immediately return ABiz's phone call.

Teche Federal, which has $857 million in assets, has 20 branches, including four in Lafayette, three each in New Iberia, Baton Rouge and Houma-Thibodaux, two in Franklin and five others.

With $13.1 billion in assets, Iberia Bank Corp. has 264 combined offices, including 168 bank branch offices and four LPOs in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, and Florida, 21 title insurance offices in Arkansas and Louisiana, and mortgage representatives in 62 locations in 12 states. It has eight locations with representatives of IBERIA Wealth Advisors in four states, and one IBERIA Capital Partners office in New Orleans.

Click here to read more on the merger.