Esquire Financial to Acquire Signature Bancorporation
Esquire Financial and Signature Bancorporation have entered into a definitive merger agreement, pursuant to which Esquire will acquire Signature in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will have approximately $4.8B in assets at closing, joining Esquire's established national verticals with Signature's established Chicago commercial banking franchise, enhancing our continued industry leading performance and growth metrics. Pro forma calculations of the combined company indicate GAAP EPS accretion of 23% for Esquire in 2027 with no associated revenue enhancement in the pro forma calculations. The transaction is approximately 11% accretive to Esquire's Tangible Book Value. The transaction only assumes 5% cost savings. Each of the combined company's and bank's board of directors will consist of eleven directors, including nine directors from Esquire and two directors from Signature. Signature's top three executives have entered into new employment agreements and will oversee commercial business development opportunities and operations in the Chicago market. Shareholders of Signature will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 2.63 shares of Esquire common stock for each share of Signature common stock. The per share value equates to $260.48, or approximately $348.4M in aggregate transaction value. The transaction is anticipated to close in Q3, pending regulatory approvals.
