Regions Financial, the parent company of Regions Bank, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Clearsight Advisors, a 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 Advisors into Regions Bank’s capital markets division.
Based in McLean, VA, Clearsight Advisors delivers independent M&A advisory services to entrepreneurs, companies and institutional investors that are active in the global knowledge economy. Its clients include businesses providing software and cloud services, digital transformation services, technology-oriented management consulting, information technology services and data services. In addition, Clearsight Advisors delivers financial advisory and consulting services for companies and entrepreneurs.
“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,” Joel Stephens, head of capital markets for Regions Bank, said. “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.”
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Regions Bank to expand services and capital raising options for our clients,” Joel Kallett, co-founder and CEO of Clearsight Advisors, said. “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 Financial will maintain Clearsight Advisors’ headquarters in McLean, VA, as well as business offices in New York City and Dallas.
The agreement to acquire Clearsight Advisors follows the recent completion of Regions Financial’s acquisition of Sabal Capital Partners, a 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,” David Turner, CFO for Regions Financial, said. “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 Financial’s acquisition of Clearsight Advisors is expected to close by the end of 2021, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Houlihan Lokey represented Regions Financial in connection with the Clearsight Advisors transaction, and Moore & Van Allen served as Regions Financial’s legal counsel. Holland & Knight served as Clearsight Advisors’ legal counsel.
