Canadian bank buying Carolina First
The sale of Carolina First will hit the piggy banks of shareholders and taxpayers — but it’s better than the largest bank based in South Carolina closing, experts said Monday.In a deal analysts said could become more routine in the stressed economy, Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada is buying Carolina First for a fraction of its going stock price and repaying a little more than one-third of the Greenville bank’s $347 government bailout loan.Federal regulators had backed Carolina First into a corner, analysts said, as the bank struggled with bad loans, especially in Florida, where it owns a bank. Coming off nine consecutive quarters of losses totaling more than $1.3 billion and months of cost cutting, its parent company, The South Financial Group, was told by federal regulators this month to raise capital to strengthen its financial position.