EverBank, WaFd Strike $3.9B Reverse Merger

EverBank Financial and WaFd have agreed to a $3.9 billion reverse merger that will combine EverBank’s digital and specialty-banking operations with WaFd Bank’s branch network and deposit base across the western United States.

EverBank will merge into WaFd, which will remain the publicly traded holding company but adopt the EverBank Financial Corp. name. The combined company will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker EVBK, with EverBank designated as the accounting acquirer.

EverBank investors, including funds managed by Stone Point Capital, Warburg Pincus, Reverence Capital Partners, Sixth Street and Bayview Asset Management, along with TIAA, will own approximately 59.2% of the combined company. Existing WaFd shareholders will hold 40.8%.

The transaction will create a bank with about $75 billion in assets, $58 billion in loans, $59 billion in deposits and 254 branches. That scale would place the institution among the 50 largest U.S. banks by assets.

Jacksonville, Florida-based EverBank reported $46.7 billion in assets and $37.7 billion in deposits as of June 30. Seattle-based WaFd had $27.6 billion in assets and $21 billion in deposits, with more than 200 branches across nine Western states.

EverBank CEO Greg Seibly will lead the combined company, while WaFd CEO Brent Beardall will serve as president.

The companies expect the merger to increase WaFd’s 2027 earnings per share by approximately 29%, with tangible book value dilution recovered in less than two years.

The deal is expected to close in early 2027.

JPMorgan and Piper Sandler are serving as financial advisors to EverBank, with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal advisor. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel company, is financial advisor to WaFd, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett serving as legal advisor.