Banking

IberiaBank confirms 97 layoffs

by Patrick Flanagan

Following its acquisition of Teche Holding Co. in January, IberiaBank filed paperwork Monday with the Louisiana Workforce Commission for the layoff of 97 workers at Teche Federal's corporate headquarters in New Iberia.

IberiaBank's Acadiana President Jerry Vascocu and CEO Daryl Byrd during January's press conference announcing the deal with Teche Holding Co.

Following its acquisition of Teche Holding Co. in January, IberiaBank filed paperwork Monday with the Louisiana Workforce Commission for the layoff of 97 workers at Teche Federal's corporate headquarters in New Iberia.

At a January press conference announcing the merger deal, IberiaBank CEO Daryl Byrd confirmed there would be layoffs between both banks as a result of the acquisition, though at the time he didn't have an exact number of how many employees would be affected.

"There will be some job eliminations ... but we don't have the numbers," Byrd said at the time. "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."

IberiaBank Senior Vice President and Director of Communications Beth Ardoin says a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice was filed Monday with the state workforce commission. According to Monday's filing, the layoffs will come incrementally in two-week stretches, with the first wave announced for May 31 and the second beginning June 30.

Another looming result of January's acquisition - a deal valued at $161 million - will be the closure of a number of branches from both banks. According to Byrd, eight IberiaBank branches are located within one mile of Teche facilities in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Iberia. Each of those eight overlaps are expected to result in closures, yet it is undetermined which branches - whether Iberia or Teche - will be shuttered.