EverBank Absorbs WaFd in $3.9 Billion Reverse Merger to Build $75B Regional Bank

EverBank Financial Corp and WaFd, Inc. announced a $3.9 billion reverse merger on Sept. 7, a deal structured so that the larger acquirer disappears into the target's publicly traded shell rather than the other way around.

The mechanics are straightforward and worth walking through. <cite index="11-4">Under the deal, EverBank will merge into WaFd, with the latter remaining a publicly traded company after changing its name to EverBank Financial Corp and trading under the new ticker symbol EVBK on the Nasdaq.</cite> It's EverBank's brand on the door, but WaFd's SEC registration that survives. That structure hands EverBank a listed vehicle without an IPO, and it hands WaFd shareholders a premium without a conventional sale.

<cite index="11-3">The deal would create a regional bank with some $75 billion in assets, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a statement from the companies.</cite> That puts the combined institution inside the bracket of mid-sized U.S. banks that regulators have been watching more closely since the 2023 failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, so the regulatory timeline matters here.

On ownership, the split tilts decisively toward EverBank's investors. <cite index="14-11">Upon completion of the transaction, EverBank investors will collectively own about 59.2% of the pro forma combined company, with WaFd shareholders owning the remaining 40.8%.</cite> In practice, WaFd shareholders are the ones accepting dilution in exchange for the EPS story the companies are selling.

That story centers on 2027. <cite index="12-8,12-9">The transaction is expected to result in a return on tangible common equity of approximately 15% after full realization of expected cost synergies. For WaFd, Inc. shareholders, the expected 2027 EPS accretion is approximately 29%, with an earn-back period for tangible book value dilution of under two years.</cite> Both numbers come from the companies' own projections in the joint press release reviewed by PRNewswire, not from a third-party analysis, and EPS accretion math depends heavily on assumed synergy capture that isn't guaranteed until integration is complete.

<cite index="11-6">The companies said the merger, which is expected to close in early 2027, is projected to increase WaFd's 2027 earnings per share by roughly 29% and recoup tangible book value dilution in less than two years.</cite> An early-2027 close means the deal still needs regulatory sign-off and a shareholder vote, two hurdles that have tripped up similar regional-bank combinations in recent years.

<cite index="12-7">Immediately following the holding company merger, WaFd Bank, a federally insured Washington state chartered commercial bank, will merge with and into EverBank, N.A., a national banking association, with EverBank continuing as the bank chartered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.</cite> That means the surviving bank charter is EverBank's national association, not WaFd's state charter, another wrinkle regulators at the OCC will need to process.

The deal fits neatly into the current regional-bank playbook. Mid-sized lenders are under pressure to spread fixed technology and compliance costs across a larger deposit base, and the math on standalone operations has gotten harder as net interest margins compress. Whether the synergy projections hold is a question the combined company's first post-close earnings call will start to answer, not the merger announcement.

Sources cited:
- CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/08/everbank-to-combine-with-wafd-in-3point9-billion-reverse-merger-.html)
- PRNewswire / WaFd press release (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wafd-inc-enters-into-a-3-9-billion-reverse-merger-transaction-with-everbank-financial-corp-302871589.html)
- Reuters via Investing.com (https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/everbank-to-combine-with-wafd-in-39-billion-reverse-merger-4890735)
- EverBank press release (https://www.everbank.com/about/news/09-07-26/everbank-wafd-announce-strategic-merger)