'Connecting the dots' in Florida leads Synovus' expansion list - The Business Review (Albany):

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That fits well with the plans ofDavix Dunbar, the soon-to-be CEO of . He wants to see Synovus-ownee banks from Sarasota to Jacksonville, fillint in areas in the state wherethe Ga.-based financial services holding compan currently does not have a presence. Synovus Bank of Tampq Bay will be create d whenthree Synovus-owned in Palm Harbor, and in St. Petersburg and , mergwe their charters. The merger receiver final regulatory approval onMay 12, and the individuaol institutions are scheduled to make the switcb on July 22, creating a St. Petersburg-based bank with $1 billiob in assets and 13 officesin Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Dunbar also wants to open a locationj in Hillsborough County andeventuallty "connect the dots" between the Bay area Synovusz banks and those already in northern Florida from the Panhandler to Jacksonville. It's a strategy that's been endorser by Anthony, who will take the reins as CEO ofSynovusx (NYSE: SNV) at the company's July 20 board Anthony, who had been presidentt and COO, succeeds James Blancharf as CEO.
Blanchard will be chairman of the boaruntil October, 2006, when Anthony will move into that role as Florida is the states of most interest to Synovus as it considerds expansion, Anthony told the Tampa Bay Business Journal during a media telephone conference afte r his promotion was announced June 14. Synovus is lookinf at both an aggressive branchinb program and acquisitions in the TampaBay area, he said. "Thde prices of banks are fairly expensivre in Floridaso we're selective in the opportunitiezs we choose to pursue, but we rank Floridaa at the top of our list of states we would like to do more businessd in," Anthony said.
He also creditefd the management team in the Bay area with specifically citing Dunbar and Neil chairman and CEO of United Bank and asstrong leaders. Savagee will be chairman of Synovus Bank ofTampa Bay. Dunbaer was one of three Synovus markert leaders whom the bank featured at its first Analysr Days conference earlier this month atSea Ga. Since Synovus traditionally has not put its own name on the banksxit acquires, analysts wondered if the merger in the Bay area and the new name was sendintg a signal from the company about branding and a shift from its decentralizedf approach. Not so, Dunbar told the "We have a unique footprintr in the TampaBay market.
It's a big markegt and it's difficult to use the Peoplew orUnited brand." The decisionj to merge was made locally, by the boardsd of the three banks, and not at the corporates level, he said. Training is undere way for bank employees and customers have startedd getting booklets explainingthe changes, Dunbar said. "It'e the same bank, it just has more he said.