JACKSONVILLE, FLA. AND SEATTLE — EverBank Financial Corp., the Jacksonville-based parent company of EverBank NA, has entered into a $3.9 billion reverse merger transaction with WaFd Inc. (NASDAQ: WAFD), the Seattle-based parent company of WaFd Bank.
Under the terms of the agreement, EverBank Financial will merge into WaFd Inc., the latter of which will continue as the resulting financial holding company. WaFd Inc. will remain publicly traded but will change its name to EverBank Financial Corp. and trade on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “EVBK.” Upon closing of the holding company merger, WaFd Bank, which has more than 200 locations in the Western United States, will merge with and into EverBank NA, which has more than 40 locations in Florida, California and New York.
Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected for early 2027, EverBank Financial’s investors, which include funds managed by Stone Point Capital, Warburg Pincus, Reverence Capital Partners, Sixth Street, Bayview Asset Management and TIAA, will collectively own approximately 59.2 percent of the pro forma combined company, with WaFd Inc. shareholders owning approximately 40.8 percent.
EverBank CEO Greg Seibly will continue to serve as CEO of EverBank post-merger, and WaFd CEO Brent Beardall will serve as president. Robert Radway, who currently serves as EverBank Financial’s chairman, will serve as chairman of the combined bank and resulting holding company.
WaFd’s stock price closed on Friday, Sept. 4 at $36.30 per share, up from $31.45 a year ago, a 15.4 percent increase.