Park Sterling Corporation (PSTB)

Park Sterling Corporation was the holding company for Park Sterling Bank, a commercial bank based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank opened in October 2006 and served businesses, professionals and consumers in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia with commercial lending, deposit accounts, mortgages and wealth management. It was formed during a period when new banks were common in the Charlotte area, which was home to several of the country's largest financial institutions.

A new management team led by former Wachovia executives recapitalized the bank through a public offering in August 2010, raising about $150 million to build a regional franchise by buying weaker community banks after the financial crisis. The shares traded on Nasdaq under the symbol PSTB. The offering was one of the largest capital raises by a young community bank at the time and made Park Sterling the second-largest bank based in Charlotte.

The company followed through with a series of acquisitions, including Community Capital Corporation of Greenwood, South Carolina in 2011, Citizens South Banking Corporation of Gastonia in 2012, Provident Community Bancshares of Rock Hill in 2014, and First Capital Bancorp of Virginia in 2016. By 2017 Park Sterling had more than $3 billion in assets. Each acquisition extended its branch network into new markets and added deposits that supported its commercial lending growth.

In April 2017 South State Corporation of Columbia, South Carolina agreed to acquire Park Sterling in an all-stock deal valued at about $690.8 million. The merger closed on November 30, 2017, with each Park Sterling share exchanged for 0.14 South State shares, and the branches were folded into South State Bank. South State later merged with CenterState and now operates as SouthState Bank. Park Sterling's customers became part of one of the larger regional banks in the Southeast.