United Bankshares, Inc. and Carolina Financial Corporation to Combine to Form Leading Community Bank in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic - Seite 2

The merger agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of customary regulatory approvals and approval by the stockholders of both companies. Carolina Financial will merge into United, and CresCom will merge into United Bank, with United and United Bank being the surviving entities. Carolina Financial’s pending acquisition of North Carolina-based Carolina Trust BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CART) is expected to close prior to year-end 2019.

Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. served as financial advisor and Bowles Rice LLP provided legal counsel to United.

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. served as financial advisor and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP served as legal counsel to Carolina Financial.

About Carolina Financial

Carolina Financial is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. and is the parent company of CresCom Bank. As of September 30, 2019, Carolina Financial had assets of approximately $3.98 billion, with 62 CresCom Bank locations in North Carolina and South Carolina. CresCom Bank owns and operates Crescent Mortgage Company, which is based in Atlanta.

Carolina Trust BancShares, Inc., which is being acquired by Carolina Financial, is a bank holding company and the parent company of Carolina Trust Bank with approximately $623 million in assets as of September 30, 2019. Carolina Trust Bank operates eleven full service offices and one loan production office in the Piedmont and Mountain Regions of the Carolinas to the north and west of Charlotte, N.C.

About United

United is a financial holding company with approximately $19.8 billion in assets as of September 30, 2019. United is the parent company of United Bank, the largest community bank headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metro area. United Bank and its mortgage subsidiary George Mason Mortgage, LLC, have 138 full service banking locations and 16 mortgage offices in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The Carolina Financial transaction represents the 32nd acquisition of the current administration. United has increased its dividend to stockholders for 46 consecutive years - a record only one other banking company in the United States has been able to achieve.