Four bank mergers affecting South Atlantic Bank’s South Carolina footprint.
Where each deal stands
| Acquirer | Acquired | Announced | Transition | Conversion | Next Steps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCNB | Beacon | May 29, 2026 | Pending — regulatory / shareholder approval | Expected early 2027 | — |
| Pinnacle | Synovus | July 21, 2025 | Complete — closed January 1, 2026 | Expected early 2027 (brand consolidation to Pinnacle) | — |
| Colony Bank | First Reliance | June 24, 2026 | Pending — regulatory / shareholder approval | TBD — not yet announced | Expected to close Q4 2026 |
| First Bank | Carolina Bank & Trust | July 14, 2026 | Pending — regulatory / shareholder approval | TBD — not yet announced | Expected to close Q4 2026 or early Q1 2027 |
Where South Atlantic Bank can capture disruption
City by city
- 0.64mi — distance from the nearest South Atlantic Bank branch
- $320.6M — branch’s total deposits (FDIC Summary of Deposits, June 2025 data)
- 1 br · $320.6M — branch count and total deposits for that bank in this city
Myrtle Beach
Three distinct messages are live at once here: CCNB’s own brand is changing despite being the acquirer, Pinnacle/Synovus overlap points to real branch consolidation risk, and First Reliance customers face a rebrand to an out-of-state name with no local Colony Bank branch to back it up. Highest-complexity city in the footprint.
Their bank is about to change its name. CCNB is the legal acquirer, but the surviving brand is Beacon Bank, N.A..
- Coastal Carolina National Bank (0.72mi, $252.1M)
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- Myrtle Beach Grissom Branch (0.64mi, $320.6M)
- Founders Centre Branch (0.55mi, $111.5M)
Their bank is about to change its name. No nearby Colony Bank branch to consolidate into, so the branch likely stays open under the Colony Bank name.
- Myrtle Beach Brach (0.9mi, $21.7M)
North Myrtle Beach
Same three-pronged pattern as Myrtle Beach, minus the First Reliance angle: CCNB’s rebrand, a Pinnacle/Synovus overlap, and a standalone Carolina Bank & Trust branch heading toward a First Bank rebrand with nothing nearby to consolidate into.
Their bank is about to change its name. CCNB is the legal acquirer, but the surviving brand is Beacon Bank, N.A..
- North Myrtle Branch (2.92mi, $164.2M)
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- North Myrtle Beach Branch (2.5mi, $112.6M)
- North Myrtle Beach Branch (1.96mi, $228.4M)
Their bank is about to change its name. No nearby First Bank branch to consolidate into, so the branch likely stays open under the First Bank name.
- N Myrtle Beach Branch (3.96mi, $12.5M)
Murrells Inlet
Only CCNB is nearby, and its brand is changing to Beacon Bank, N.A. despite CCNB being the legal acquirer.
Their bank is about to change its name. CCNB is the legal acquirer, but the surviving brand is Beacon Bank, N.A..
- Garden City Branch (0.81mi, $119.6M)
Mount Pleasant
The most merger-dense city in SAB’s footprint — all four deals touch it. Beacon keeps its name but changes hands quietly, Pinnacle/Synovus shows direct overlap and closure risk, First Reliance is a standalone rebrand, and First Bank is steady with nothing to consolidate into.
Ownership changed quietly. Beacon keeps its name here — the opening is the ownership and decision-making change, not brand confusion.
- Beacon Community Bank (3.99mi, $197.3M)
- Houston Northcutt (1.6mi, $106.3M)
- Daniel Island Branch (4.29mi, $52.0M)
- Ben Sawyer Branch (1.23mi, $75.6M)
- Bay Street Branch (3.91mi, $202.8M)
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- Southcoast Community Bank Branch (1.23mi, $171.9M)
- Charleston Morrison Yards Branch (4.17mi, $611.5M)
- Meeting Street Branch (4.31mi, $501.0M)
- Mt. Pleasant North Branch (1.26mi, $91.8M)
- Daniel Island Branch (4.08mi, $46.4M)
Their bank is about to change its name. No nearby Colony Bank branch to consolidate into, so the branch likely stays open under the Colony Bank name.
- Johnnie Dodds Branch (0.08mi, $0.0M)
- Mount Pleasant Branch (0.63mi, $178.6M)
Steady for now. First Bank’s brand survives and there’s no acquired-side branch nearby to trigger consolidation.
- Charleston Office Branch (4.52mi, $35.7M)
Charleston
Same four-deal mix as Mount Pleasant: quiet ownership change at Beacon, closure risk at Pinnacle/Synovus, a First Reliance rebrand with no local Colony presence, and a steady, unaffected First Bank branch.
Ownership changed quietly. Beacon keeps its name here — the opening is the ownership and decision-making change, not brand confusion.
- Houston Northcutt (2.34mi, $106.3M)
- Ben Sawyer Branch (3.97mi, $75.6M)
- Bay Street Branch (0.29mi, $202.8M)
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- Harbor National Bank Branch (4.17mi, $116.7M)
- Folly Road Branch (3.33mi, $43.6M)
- Southcoast Community Bank Branch (2.67mi, $171.9M)
- Savannah Highway Branch (3.28mi, $30.7M)
- Charleston Morrison Yards Branch (1.1mi, $611.5M)
- Meeting Street Branch (0.7mi, $501.0M)
- Bishop Gadsden Branch (4.66mi, $0.0M)
- James Island Branch (3.35mi, $62.4M)
Their bank is about to change its name. No nearby Colony Bank branch to consolidate into, so the branch likely stays open under the Colony Bank name.
- Johnnie Dodds Branch (3.82mi, $0.0M)
- Mount Pleasant Branch (3.28mi, $178.6M)
Steady for now. First Bank’s brand survives and there’s no acquired-side branch nearby to trigger consolidation.
- Charleston Office Branch (1.67mi, $35.7M)
Summerville
Single story, but a strong one: two Pinnacle branches and two Synovus branches all sit within reach, pointing to real consolidation risk rather than an isolated overlap.
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- Summerville Branch (4.75mi, $103.8M)
- Goose Creek Branch (2.76mi, $27.1M)
- Goose Creek Branch (4.97mi, $165.9M)
- Summerville Main Branch (4.37mi, $27.6M)
Hilton Head Island
Single story: Pinnacle and Synovus both have a branch here, a direct overlap that points to consolidation risk.
Branches will close here. Pinnacle and Synovus both sit within reach — classic consolidation overlap.
- Hilton Head Wexford Branch (4.53mi, $63.5M)
- Hilton Head Island Branch (0.44mi, $49.6M)
Bluffton
Only Synovus is nearby, with its brand retiring to Pinnacle and no Pinnacle branch close enough to consolidate into.
Their bank is about to change its name. No nearby Pinnacle branch to consolidate into, so the branch likely stays open under the Pinnacle Bank name.
- Bluffton Branch (0.46mi, $54.6M)
South Atlantic Bank’s opportunity, merger by merger
Each merger creates a different kind of opening. Sized here by branches and deposits within five miles of an SAB branch, with a rough estimate of what a 1% deposit-capture rate would mean in each case.
CCNB × Beacon
This merger sits directly on top of South Atlantic Bank’s own home market. CCNB’s Grand Strand branches (Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet) face a rebrand to Beacon Bank, N.A. despite CCNB being the legal survivor, while Beacon’s Charleston-area branches keep their name under new ownership. Of the four mergers tracked, this is the one where SAB already has the deepest local brand recognition in the affected market — both the Grand Strand and Charleston clusters overlap with SAB’s own strongest footprint.
- Myrtle Beach
- North Myrtle Beach
- Murrells Inlet
- Mount Pleasant
- Charleston
Pinnacle × Synovus
This is the largest opportunity by dollar volume and branch count, and the one with the most direct branch overlap: Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, Summerville, North Myrtle Beach, and the Charleston/Mount Pleasant corridor all show both Pinnacle and Synovus branches within reach of an SAB location, indicating real consolidation risk across the footprint rather than an isolated pocket. The tradeoff is competitive size — Pinnacle is a large, well-capitalized regional, not a comparable community bank, so the pitch has to lean on local relationships and decision-making speed rather than scale.
- Myrtle Beach
- North Myrtle Beach
- Mount Pleasant
- Charleston
- Summerville
- Hilton Head Island
- Bluffton
Colony Bank × First Reliance
Colony Bank currently has no branch presence in South Carolina, so every First Reliance branch in this deal is an isolated rebrand with no local acquirer network behind it. That’s a narrower dollar pool than the other three mergers, but a potentially higher-conversion opportunity per branch: First Reliance depositors are being asked to adopt an out-of-state brand they have no existing relationship with, with no nearby Colony branch to normalize the transition.
- Myrtle Beach
- Mount Pleasant
- Charleston
First Bank × Carolina Bank & Trust
The smallest of the four opportunities in dollar terms, and the branches affected don’t overlap directly — the qualifying Carolina Bank & Trust branch (North Myrtle Beach) and the qualifying First Bank branch (Charleston) sit in different SAB markets. That points to a straightforward rebrand story for Carolina Bank & Trust customers in North Myrtle Beach specifically, with limited near-term consolidation risk anywhere else in SAB’s footprint.
- North Myrtle Beach
- Mount Pleasant
- Charleston