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SYNOVUS NEWS RELEASE
FINANCIAL
CORP.
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Filed by Synovus Financial Corp.
Commission File No. 001-10312
Subject Company: United Financial Holdings, Inc.
Commission File No. 005-55641
On November 13, 2002, Synovus Financial Corp., a Georgia corporation,
issued the following press release.
For Immediate Release
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Contact: Aimee Davis Patrick A. Reynolds Susan Blackburn C. Peter Bardin
Synovus Synovus United Financial United Financial
706.644.0528 706.649.4973 727.824.8755 727.824.8752
Synovus and United Financial Merger Update
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Columbus, Ga., November 12, 2002 - Synovus (NYSE - "SNV"), the
Columbus, Georgia based diverse financial services company, and United Financial
Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: "UFHI") today announced that their previously announced
merger agreement has been amended to reflect that Synovus will issue 2,268,167
shares of its Common Stock and $34,000,000 in cash for all the outstanding
common stock and preferred stock convertible into common stock of United
Financial. An additional 215,277 shares have been allocated for UFHI's option
holders, bringing the total number of Synovus Shares to 2,483,444 for all of
UFHI's common stock and common stock equivalents outstanding. Each share of
United Financial Common Stock will be exchanged for either .8021 shares of
Synovus Common Stock, $16.47 of cash or a combination thereof. The transaction
is expected to close during the first quarter of 2003.
In September, Synovus announced the acquisition $408 million asset United
Financial Holdings, Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida; the parent company of
United Bank, United Bank of the Gulf Coast, United Trust Company and EPW
Investment Management, Inc. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, United Bank
operates seven full-service banking centers in Pinellas County, Florida and has
begun construction on an eighth location in Clearwater. United Bank of the Gulf
Coast is based in Sarasota with one office and plans to open another in Manatee
County by year-end. These will be Synovus' first bank locations along the
growing central west coast of Florida.
Both United Bank and United Bank of the Gulf Coast will operate under their
existing names, management teams and local boards of directors.
About Synovus
Synovus (NYSE: "SNV"), with more than $18 billion in assets, provides integrated
financial services including banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage
and leasing services through 39 affiliate banks and other Synovus offices in
Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee; and electronic payment
processing through an 81 percent stake in TSYS (NYSE: "TSS"), the world's
largest third-party processor of international payments. Synovus is No. 5 on
FORTUNE magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies To Work For" in 2002. See
Synovus on the Web at www.synovus.com.
Synovus will be filing a Registration Statement on Form S-4 and other relevant
documents concerning the merger with the SEC. Such document also will serve as a
proxy statement for United Financial Holdings, Inc. WE URGE INVESTORS TO READ
THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE
SEC, BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors will be able to
obtain the documents free of charge at the SEC's Web site, www.sec.gov. In
addition, documents filed with the SEC by Synovus will be available free of
charge from the Corporate Secretary of Synovus at Suite 301, One Arsenal Place,
901 Front Avenue, Columbus, Georgia 31901, Telephone 706-649-4751. READ THE
REGISTRATION STATEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE MAKING A DECISION CONCERNING THE MERGER.