Regions Financial, the parent company of Regions Bank, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Clearsight Advisors, a leading-edge mergers and acquisitions firm serving clients in the technology, professional services, data and information services, and digital and technology-enabled services industries.
Regions Financial plans to incorporate Clearsight into Regions Bank’s growing Capital Markets division. The acquisition represents another avenue for the bank to broaden its specialty capabilities for existing technology sector clients while reaching new clients that can leverage Regions’ experience and resources to help them reach their financial objectives. Further, the acquisition is the latest example of Regions building additional revenue diversification by delivering more high-value, fee-based financial services and originations.
Through extensive sector knowledge, Clearsight delivers independent mergers-and-acquisitions advisory services to entrepreneurs, companies, and institutional investors that are active in the high-growth global knowledge economy. Examples include businesses providing software and cloud services, digital transformation services, technology-oriented management consulting, high-end information technology services, data services, and more. In addition, Clearsight delivers financial advisory and consulting services for companies and entrepreneurs as they accelerate their business strategies.
“Regions Bank and Clearsight Advisors are both known for taking a holistic, insightful view of our clients’ needs and delivering customized solutions based on our depth of market knowledge and our passion for delivering a superior client experience,” said Joel Stephens, head of Capital Markets for Regions Bank. “Our cultures and approach to teamwork directly complement each other, and we look forward to welcoming the team from Clearsight and combining our strengths to deliver strategic solutions for technology industry clients. The combination of Clearsight’s sector-specific M&A and financial advisory services, and Regions’ extensive technology sector corporate finance, lending and capital markets solutions, represents a significant opportunity to deliver value for our collective client base. This, along with our commitment to world-class service and attention to detail, will help us deepen relationships and build new relationships in this space.”
Based in McLean, Virginia, Clearsight Advisors follows a research-driven, thematic approach toward building relationships across the sectors served by the company. This enables Clearsight to deliver a deep understanding of market trends and compelling business strategies.
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Regions Bank to expand services and capital raising options for our clients,” said Clearsight Co-Founder and CEO Joel Kallett. “Over the last decade, Clearsight has grown to be an M&A advisory leader in the burgeoning knowledge economy. Strategically, we were seeking a partner that would help us expand our ability to provide a more fulsome suite of services and capital options for our growing client base, while identifying the right culture match for our team. We have found the ideal partner in Regions Bank to help us enhance our client solutions while also building on the culture and team dynamic that have been a hallmark of Clearsight since its founding.”
Regions will maintain Clearsight’s headquarters office in McLean, as well as business offices in New York City and Dallas, Texas.
The agreement to acquire Clearsight Advisors follows the recent completion of Regions’ acquisition of Sabal Capital Partners, LLC, a diversified financial services firm that serves clients in the small-balance commercial real estate market. Sabal is now part of Regions’ Real Estate Capital Markets division.
“Our strategic plan at Regions includes identifying areas where we can expand specialty capabilities to offer more solutions to clients while growing our customer base,” said David Turner, chief financial officer for Regions Financial Corp. “Regions’ agreement to acquire Clearsight Advisors, as well as our acquisitions of Sabal Capital Partners, home improvement lender EnerBank, Ascentium Capital, and others, reflect this strategy in action. As a result, Regions is even better positioned to drive positive results for a wider range of clients as we build on our long-term growth.”
Regions’ acquisition of Clearsight is expected to close by the end of 2021 subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Terms were not disclosed.
Houlihan Lokey represented Regions in connection with the Clearsight Advisors transaction, and Moore & Van Allen PLLC served as Regions’ legal counsel. Holland & Knight LLP served as Clearsight Advisors’ legal counsel.