Pending Merger and Acquisition

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Business Combinations [Abstract]

Pending Merger and Acquisition

NOTE 2 – PENDING MERGER AND ACQUISITION

On May 1, 2013, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with The Prosperity Banking Company (“Prosperity”), a bank holding company headquartered in Saint Augustine, Florida. Prosperity Bank is a wholly-owned bank subsidiary of Prosperity. Prosperity Bank has a total of 12 banking locations, with the majority of the franchise concentrated in northeast Florida. As of December 31, 2012, Prosperity reported assets of $742 million, loans of $464 million and deposits of $478 million. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, Prosperity will merge with and into Ameris, with Ameris as the surviving entity in the merger. In addition, Prosperity Bank will be merged with and into the Bank, with the Bank as the surviving entity.

Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Prosperity shareholders will have the option to elect to receive either 3.125 shares of the Company’s common stock or $41.50 in cash for each share of Prosperity common stock they hold, subject to the requirement that no more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Prosperity may receive cash. Assuming 100% stock consideration, the transaction would be valued at approximately $15.7 million, based on the Company’s closing stock price of $13.32 on May 1, 2013 and Prosperity’s common shares outstanding of 377,960 as of that date.

Consummation of the merger is subject to customary conditions, including, among others, approval of the Merger Agreement by Prosperity’s shareholders and the receipt of required regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close during the third or fourth quarter of 2013.