Five private-equity firms who bought Florida-based EverBank in a $2.5 billion take-private three years ago are now seeking an exit after strategic disagreements fractured the consortium. The owners — who include mid-tier names managing a combined $180 billion — began clashing within eighteen months of closing the 2023 transaction, according to regulatory filings and investor letters reviewed by Markets Edge.
EverBank operates 70 branches across Florida and maintains $36 billion in assets under management as of Q4 2024. The lender focuses on commercial real estate, residential lending, and cash-management services for affluent households. The consortium purchased the bank from TIAA at a 1.12x book-value multiple during a window when regional-bank valuations briefly recovered following the March 2023 failures of SVB and First Republic. The deal was structured as 62% equity, 38% seller financing, with TIAA retaining a $950 million note due in 2028.
The consortium split centers on capital deployment. Two of the five firms pushed for aggressive commercial real estate expansion in South Florida and Dallas markets, targeting 15% annual loan-book growth. The other three firms advocated for a balance-sheet runoff strategy to improve capital ratios ahead of a 2026 sale or IPO. By Q3 2024, the bank's CET1 ratio had fallen to 9.8%, below the 10.5% threshold that cleanly passes regulatory review for a public offering. The disagreement stalled $420 million in planned technology upgrades and froze hiring for a wealth-management division that was supposed to generate $85 million in annual fee revenue by 2025.
The friction matters because consortium sales almost always trade at a discount to single-sponsor exits. Buyers price in the operational drag of divided ownership and the risk that key hires defect during a prolonged auction. EverBank's exit is now expected by Q2 2025, nine months ahead of the original 2026 timeline. That compression forces the consortium to accept bids from acquirers who know the sellers lack leverage. Regional banks trading at 0.9x to 1.1x book value will anchor pricing, and EverBank's subpar capital ratio removes the premium tier.
Operators and allocators should watch three developments. First, whether the consortium hires a second investment bank to run a dual-track process — IPO prep alongside M&A outreach — which typically surfaces by late February if the Q2 timeline holds. Second, the TIAA seller note becomes callable in June 2025 if EverBank misses certain profitability covenants; early repayment would signal distress. Third, Florida's commercial real estate market is entering a correction phase, with office vacancy in Tampa and Miami crossing 18% in Q4 2024. Any loan-loss reserve build above 1.2% of total loans will crater the valuation multiple.
Two of the five PE firms have already approached secondary buyers to offload their stakes at a 12% discount to the original acquisition basis, according to term sheets circulating among distressed-credit desks.