JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Federal Reserve approved a merger Friday between Jacksonville-based EverBank Financial Corp. and Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, better known as TIAA.
TIAA will acquire EverBank for $2.5 billion. The two companies will form a merged bank with headquarters remaining in Jacksonville.
News4Jax is still waiting to learn what the merger means for EverBank’s 30-story downtown building, its headquarters in the Brooklyn neighborhood and the Jaguars’ stadium, EverBank Field.
The details of the EverBank, TIAA merger are still scarce, and a lot of people have questions about what exactly is going to happen. People also expressed concern about the future of jobs in the River City.
News4Jax spoke with the president of the JaxUSA Partnership, Jerry Mallot, who said people should not worry the merger, saying he believes it will be a good thing for the community.
"We're always concerned about whether you might lose a headquarters, so we became involved early on saying, ‘How can we help? Is there anything we can do?’ and had several opportunities to actually meet with TIAA executives, encouraging them, which they were planning to do already -- to keep things here, grow the bank here and make a real positive difference in Jacksonville in our region,” Mallot said.
EverBank officials called the merger exciting and said they’re committed to the local community. They wouldn’t comment what the merger means for the names of the buildings and the stadium, or for jobs, but Mallot believes current employees should feel safe.
"The system is headquartered here today, and it’s just going to grow from there, so we're not anticipating any layoffs," Mallot said. "Jacksonville wins. EverBank wins. It’s just a good deal for everybody."
A spokesperson with EverBank said more details will be released Monday.