Subsequent Event

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Subsequent Events [Abstract]

Subsequent Event

NOTE 24 – SUBSEQUENT EVENT

On March 10, 2014, the Company announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which the Company will acquire Coastal Bankshares, Inc. (“Coastal”), the parent company of The Coastal Bank, Savannah, Georgia. Upon completion of the holding company merger, The Coastal Bank will be merged with and into Ameris Bank. Coastal currently operates 6 banking locations in Chatham, Liberty and Effingham counties, Georgia. As of December 31, 2013, Coastal reported assets of $433 million, loans of $295 million and deposits of $364 million.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Coastal shareholders will receive 0.4671 shares of Ameris common stock in exchange for each share of Coastal common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014 and is subject to customary closing conditions, regulatory approvals and approval by the shareholders of Coastal.

Based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on February 28, 2014, the transaction would be valued at approximately $37.3 million, which represents 169% of Coastal’s tangible book value as of December 31, 2013. The purchase price will be allocated among the assets of Coastal acquired as appropriate, with the remaining balance being reported as goodwill. The Company will not be able to make the remaining disclosures required by purchase accounting standards until the transaction closes.