Financial Services - Mergers & Acquisitions

Clients engaging in financial services mergers and acquisitions require a responsive, industry-savvy team to get the deal done. Our M&A attorneys are skilled in structuring and executing transactions within a complicated regulatory framework. Interdisciplinary teams respond to transactional demands with a creative, solution-oriented approach designed to achieve your business and legal needs.

Alston & Bird understands that decisions made today can have an effect on your business tomorrow. The financial services industry is in constant flux. The M&A attorneys in our Financial Services & Products Group understand this dynamic industry and the unique challenges presented by business combinations in a regulated environment. We have handled a vast array of transactions, including some of the most complex merger transactions in the financial services industry. Our team ranked #1 as M&A legal adviser in the asset management/investment banks/brokers/capital markets category, based on 2023 deal volume, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. We also ranked #3 as financial services M&A legal adviser, based on deal volume in 2023 according to GlobalData. We are regarded for our perspective and approach as well as experience, with transactional lawyers who provide broad market perspective and serve as business partners while guiding your strategy and advising on new products and services. We are practical, thoughtful, and responsive.

• Regulatory counsel to Avant, a leading financial technology company that gives underserved consumers access to credit, in its acquisition of Zero Financial, Inc. and Level, the company's neobank and design-forward banking app assets.
• Represented Mississippi-based BancorpSouth Bank (NYSE: BXS) in several transactions, including its proposed $2.7 billion merger with Texas-based Cadence Bancorporation, the parent company of Cadence Bank, N.A. At the time of announcement, it was the second largest bank deal of the year. Additional recent deals include its $108.4 million merger with Alabama-based FNS Bancshares, the parent company of FNB Bank, and its $115 million acquisition of Texas-based National United Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of National United.
• Represented Bank First, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank First Corporation, in the sale of its Chetek, Wisconsin, branch to Charter Bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Charter Bankshares, Inc.
• Represented Beacon Pointe Holdings and its subsidiaries in the merging of its two Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) into a single RIA operating as Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC, and in its recapitalization with a strategic minority investment by Abry Partners. Subsequently represented Beacon Pointe in several acquisitions, including of Florida-based Ferrell Wealth Management Inc., Louisiana-based CBD Wealth Management, Texas-based D.R. Saur Financial, North Carolina-based DMJ Wealth Advisors, South Carolina-based Capital Design Associates Group LLC, and Texas-based Wealthstreet Investment Advisors. 
• Represented Bibby Financial Services in the sale of its North American operations, Bibby Financial Services (Holdings) Inc. (Bibby NAM), to Global Merchant Fund Corp. (GMF), a leading North American provider of financial solutions for middle market companies.
• Represented Brightworth LLC, an Atlanta-based registered investment advisor, in its sale to CI Financial Corp., a diversified global asset and wealth management company.
• Represented Louisiana-based Business First Bancshares, Inc., in its $211 million acquisition of Louisiana-based Pedestal Bancshares, Inc. 
• Represented CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, the largest registered investment advisor in the United States, in a 25% minority growth investment in the company by GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm, at a $1.25 billion enterprise value.
• Represented San Diego-based registered investment advisor firm Dowling & Yahnke LLC in its acquisition by Toronto-based CI Financial Corp., a global asset management and wealth management advisory firm.
• Represented Fifth Third Bancorp in its acquisition of Hammond Hanlon Camp LLC, a premier strategic advisory and investment banking firm focused on hospitals, health systems, and related organizations.