EverBank and WaFd Seal $3.9 Billion Reverse Merger to Form $75 Billion Bank

EverBank and WAFD have agreed to a $3.9 billion all-stock reverse merger that creates a bank with roughly $75 billion in assets. The structure matters more than the headline: although WaFd Financial is the surviving public listing, EverBank shareholders will own about 59.2% of the combined company against WaFd's 40.8%, making EverBank the effective acquirer rather than the target.

Governance follows the ownership split. EverBank will hold 7 of the 13 board seats to WaFd's 6, EverBank chief executive Greg Seibly is set to lead the combined bank, and WaFd chief executive Brent Beardall moves into the president role. That is an unusual arrangement for a deal in which the listed acquirer keeps its ticker, and it is the detail most likely to be missed by anyone reading only the headline.

The companies point to roughly 29% accretion to 2027 earnings per share as the financial case, with closing targeted for early 2027 subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals. A combined balance sheet near $75 billion puts the bank in the size band that draws heavier supervisory attention, so the approval path is a genuine variable rather than a formality.

For the regional banking group, this is another data point in a consolidation wave driven by deposit costs and the fixed cost of technology and compliance. What to watch from here: whether regulators clear the transaction on the stated timeline, whether the accretion math survives any conditions imposed during review, and whether the split leadership structure holds through integration.

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