EverBank has become a significant name on Jacksonville’s skyline, adorning the company’s Northbank headquarters on Riverside Avenue, a 30-story Downtown office building and, of course, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ football stadium.
One of the key details to be worked out in the coming months, as TIAA completes its buyout of EverBank Financial Corp., is whether or not that name will remain.
TIAA, a diversified financial services company, announced Monday morning a $2.5 billion agreement to acquire EverBank, two weeks after word leaked out that EverBank was in negotiations for a buyout.
As part of the deal, TIAA’s bank will merge into EverBank, and the bank will continue to be headquartered in Jacksonville.
However, the two companies have not yet decided on the name for the merged bank.
Without a name, it is impossible to say if the Jaguars’ stadium will continue to be known as EverBank Field.
The Jaguars said Monday the team had not been contacted by EverBank prior to the buyout agreement.
“We have not had any discussions on this subject and will need to learn more regarding their future branding plans before we will be in a position to comment,” the Jaguars said in an emailed statement.
The team signed a five-year, $16.6 million naming rights deal with EverBank in 2010 and then agreed to a 10-year, $43 million extension in 2014.
“The agreement we have with the Jaguars, like many of our agreements, has provisions that will allow the combined company to continue the relationship. At this early stage, no decisions have been made on this contract or others,” EverBank said in an FAQ (frequently asked questions) for employees included in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.
As the two companies discuss the future name of the merged bank, it seems unlikely it would retain the name of TIAA’s bank, which is officially known as TIAA-CREF Trust Company, FSB.
The companies also have not decided on a “real estate plan” for the merged bank, the FAQ said.
“The transaction won’t close for several months. During that time, we’ll be working to determine how we’ll structure the combined real estate plan to most effectively meet business needs,” it said.
The bank is headquartered at EverBank Plaza at 501 Riverside Ave., which opened in 2007. EverBank leases 47,500 square feet of space for its corporate headquarters in that building, but the lease expires in June 2017, according to its annual report.
In 2012, EverBank moved additional operations from suburban locations to the 30-story building at 301 W. Bay St., formerly called the AT&T Tower. It was renamed EverBank Center.
The company’s filings do not give lease information on its EverBank Center offices.
EverBank currently employs 1,624 people in Jacksonville and 1,339 in other locations, spokesman Michael Cosgrove said.
EverBank and TIAA did not give details on what will happen to EverBank employees, including top management, but they did indicate TIAA wants to keep a large number of them.
“A key component of TIAA’s evaluation of EverBank was the talent that exists in our organization, and we will be working together to determine a leadership model that continues to benefit our customers,” EverBank’s FAQ said.
EverBank CEO Rob Clements was not available for comment Monday.
EverBank’s roots trace to 1994 when a private investor group acquired Alliance Mortgage Co. in Jacksonville. The company chartered a new bank called First Alliance Bank in 1998 and expanded into its main business, online banking, with the acquisition of CustomerOne Financial Network Inc. in 2002.
The company was renamed EverBank in 2004.
TIAA was formed by the Carnegie Foundation in 1918 as the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America to provide a retirement system for teachers.
It continues to focus on providing financial services for people in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields.
While TIAA is a not-for-profit corporation, it ranked 82nd on this year’s Fortune 500 list with $35 billion in revenue in 2015.
EverBank ranked as the 60th largest U.S. banking company with $26.6 billion in assets as of March 31, according to banking regulators.
TIAA is paying $19.50 a share to buy EverBank, the same price EverBank announced two weeks ago when it confirmed it was in negotiations with an unnamed company.
EverBank, which went public at $10 a share in 2012, was trading at $15.50 before news of the buyout talks surfaced two weeks ago. It closed at $18.64 Friday before the agreement was announced early Monday.