Commerce Street Capital Ranked Top Financial Advisor in the Southwest for Fourth Consecutive Year

DALLAS - Feb. 3, 2015 - PRLog -- For the fourth consecutive year, Commerce Street Capital (http://www.commercestreetcapital.com/) (“CSC”) was ranked (by number of deals) as the top financial advisor in the Southwest by SNL Financial. In a year of heightened merger and acquisition activity in banking, two of CSC’s executives were also ranked among the nation’s top five most active banking dealmakers by SNL Financial. For the year 2014, Managing Director C.K. Lee tied for second place with eight deals and Managing Director Brian Johnson also tied for second place with eight deals.

“These rankings make it clear that Commerce Street Capital is heavily involved in the buying and selling among financial institutions not only in the Southwest, but nation-wide,” said CEO and President of CSC Dory Wiley. “Last year was a balancing act for banking executives; banks needed to strategically plan how they could capitalize on the strong mergers and acquisitions wave in the industry, as well as how to best cope with heightened regulatory and interest rate concerns. This is a trend that we’ll continue to see in 2015.”

"We would not be in business without great bank clients and we work hard on their behalf every day," Lee said.  "These results for our firm are a testament to the strength of our team of experienced bankers and analysts, as well as our determination to help our clients succeed.”

In 2007, there were 283 M&A transactions and 8,680 banks and thrifts outstanding, representing a 3.26 percent transactions-to-banks ratio. In 2014, there were 291 M&A transactions and 6,589 banks and thrifts outstanding as of September 30, 2014 (FDIC.gov), representing a 4.40 percent transactions-to-banks ratio, reflecting a variance of less than 1.04 percent in absolute activity between 2007 and 2014.

“We’ve observed that the current wave of consolidation has reached the highest levels we’ve seen since the 2007 financial crisis,” said Johnson. “Considering that there are fewer active banks and thrifts today than in 2007, the rate of M&A transactions relative to active banks is as close as we’ve seen to pre-crisis levels.”

A few of the notable deals over the last 12 months in which Commerce Street Capital advised on are Austin-based Central Community Corporation’s acquisition by Mississippi-based BancorpSouth, a deal valued $211 million Arkansas and announced in January 2014; the Delta Trust acquisition by Simmons First National, both of Arkansas, a deal valued at $66 million and announced in March 2014; and SP Bancorp’s acquisition by Green Bancorp, both of Texas, a deal valued $50 million and announced in October 2014.

Commerce Street Capital’s Financial Institutions Group practice centers exclusively on serving the needs of the financial services sector. The group aims to provide sound, comprehensive advice, expert structuring and optimum execution to banks, bank holding companies and allied businesses. Commerce Street Capital is recognized as a leader in the industry for its valuation practice and providing clients with unbiased analyses and independent opinions required to fulfill their fiduciary obligations.

         #   #   #

About Commerce Street Capital

Commerce Street Capital, LLC (“CSC”) is a private investment banking firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Led by veterans of the banking industry, CSC specializes in investment banking services (mergers and acquisitions, valuations and regulatory issue advising) and bank development (on-site consulting, sales and management of bank capital raises, market assessments and the bank regulatory application process). The firm provides tailored solutions for all or part of a financial institution's business lifecycle. For more information, visit www.commercestreetcapital.com or call 214-545-6800. CSC is a member of FINRA/SIPC.

This press release is for information purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation or offer by Commerce Street Capital, LLC, to buy or sell any securities, futures, options, foreign exchange or other financial instrument or to provide any investment advice or service. The testimonials stated within this press release may not be representative of the experience of other clients. The testimonials stated within this press release are not indicative of future performance or success. The testimonials stated within this press release are not paid testimonials.