Seacoast, First Green complete merger

Seacoast Bank finalized its $115 million merger with First Green Bank on Friday following months of negotiations.

The acquisition means Seacoast will move into First Green’s 16-story, LEED-certified downtown Orlando headquarters. The building, at 250 N. Orange Avenue, now hosts the Seacoast logo instead.

Seacoast is also expanding its footprint across Florida with 51 branches across the state, including First Green’s Fort Lauderdale and Mount Dora branches. Seacoast will also take over First Green’s Ormond Beach branch. First Green’s branches in Clermont, Winter Park and Longwood will close.

The merger, announced this summer, was originally pegged for $132 million, but because of overall slower banking industry evaluations, the figure was modified to $115 million, said Joel Staley, a spokesman for Seacoast.

The bank has been working with First Green to carry out some of its green policies since talks of a merger began. First Green carved a niche for itself when it opened in 2009 as a community bank with an environmental and social purpose. It had seven branches in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach.

As part of the merger, Seacoast has committed to absorbing First Green’s solar loan program, which encourages both consumers and commercial customers to install solar panels by offering various financing options. The bank has also worked to hire almost the entirety of First Green’s 110 employees.

Seacoast’s physical branches will get a new look too, with electric car charging stations added over time and recycling bins prominently featured at each branch. Seacoast says it will also commit to maintaining the environmental certifications at the First Green locations it’s keeping.

“[We will] be able to report back to the community at large what our sustainability model looks like,” Julie Kleffel, executive vice president of Seacoast, told the Orlando Sentinel last month.