United Community Banks, Reliant Bancorp complete merger

Blairsville, Ga.-based United Community Banks Inc. on Jan. 1 completed its merger with Reliant Bancorp Inc. and unit, Brentwood, Tenn.-based Reliant Bank.

Reliant Bank was merged into United Community Banks' subsidiary, United Community Bank in Greenville, S.C., and will now operate under the United brand, according to a news release. When the transaction was announced in July 2021, it had a value of about $517 million.

Reliant has a foothold in the middle Tennessee market, with a 24-branch network primarily in the Nashville area, as well as Clarksville and Chattanooga. Reliant also operates a manufactured housing finance group based in Knoxville. United Community has a presence in Tennessee, but wanted to increase its scale in the state's faster growing markets.

Reliant reported total assets of $3.0 billion, total loans of $2.5 billion and total deposits of $2.5 billion as of Sept. 30, 2021, according to the news release. United Community finished the same quarter with $19.5 billion in assets.

D.A. Davidson & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Piper Sandler & Co. acted as financial advisers to United, and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP served as United's legal adviser. Raymond James & Associates Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC served as financial advisers to Reliant, and K&L Gates LLP served as Reliant's legal adviser.