IberiaBank
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA Louisiana-founded regional bank that expanded across the American South before merging into First Horizon in 2020.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
IberiaBank was an American regional banking organization founded in 1887 in New Iberia, Louisiana. It began as Iberia Building Association, a savings and loan institution serving a small agricultural community whose economy was centered on sugarcane farming. For roughly its first century, the institution concentrated on household deposits and residential mortgage lending. Regulatory changes and a changing Louisiana financial environment later enabled it to broaden its activities, geographic reach, and legal structure. The organization changed its name to Iberia Savings & Loan in 1956 and to Iberia Savings Bank in 1988. During the 1980s oil downturn, its thrift structure helped insulate it from some of the pressures affecting Louisiana commercial banks, while regulatory liberalization allowed it to expand beyond Iberia Parish. It opened locations in Morgan City and Franklin and entered Lafayette through the acquisition of Acadia Savings & Loan. In the early 1990s, further regulatory reforms allowed Louisiana thrifts to convert into state-chartered commercial banks. Bank president Larrey Mouton prepared the business for that transition by establishing ISB Financial Corporation, which completed an initial public offering in 1995. A major period of expansion began after Daryl Byrd became chief executive in 1999. The institution adopted the IBERIABANK name and pursued a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. It acquired banks in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia, ultimately expanding to hundreds of combined banking, loan-production, wealth-management, and capital-markets locations. The organization also developed mortgage, online-banking, investment, trust, title, and small-business-lending capabilities. Its non-bank activities included Iberia Capital Partners, Iberia Financial Services, Iberia Wealth Advisors, Lender's Title Group, and Mercantile Capital Corporation. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 produced loan losses, property repairs, and insurance-related costs. The event encouraged IberiaBank to diversify beyond Louisiana, and the organization entered Arkansas in 2007 through the purchase of Pulaski Bank and Trust. During the financial crisis, IberiaBank grew through several FDIC-assisted transactions involving failed or distressed institutions. It assumed insured deposits and acquired assets, branches, or operations associated with ANB Financial, CapitalSouth, Orion Bank, Century Bank, and Sterling Bank between 2008 and 2009. On March 31, 2009, it became the first financial institution in the United States to repay its Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to the Treasury, according to the cited reference. In November 2019, IBERIABANK Corporation and Memphis-based First Horizon Bank announced an agreement to merge. The transaction closed on July 2, 2020. The combined organization was headquartered in Memphis and operated under the First Horizon name, bringing the independent IberiaBank brand to an end. The resulting bank was described as having approximately $79 billion in assets and $58 billion in loans at the time of the merger. IberiaBank is therefore best understood as a defunct regional bank brand whose franchise, personnel, branches, and businesses were absorbed into First Horizon rather than as an ongoing standalone institution.
History
IberiaBank traces its origins to Iberia Building Association, which opened on March 12, 1887, in New Iberia, Louisiana. The institution was created to collect savings and provide home mortgages in a farming community of approximately 3,000 residents. Its name reflected the area's historical association with the Iberian Peninsula: Spanish colonists had called the settlement Nueva Iberia. Sugarcane farming was the principal local industry, while the oil development that would later transform parts of southern Louisiana had not yet occurred. For its first hundred years, the organization remained primarily a community thrift. It accepted deposits and financed residential property, with limited exposure to commercial lending. In 1956, Iberia Building Association became Iberia Savings & Loan, commonly abbreviated ISLA. Its thrift status meant that it operated under a different business model from commercial banks and could not lend to businesses. This distinction helped limit some of its direct exposure to the Louisiana commercial-banking pressures associated with the oil crisis of the early 1980s. As restrictions on thrift expansion eased in the mid-1980s, ISLA began acquiring struggling savings institutions affected by the regional downturn. It expanded into Morgan City and Franklin, moving outside Iberia Parish for the first time. The organization adopted the name Iberia Savings Bank in 1988 and entered Lafayette in 1989 through the acquisition of Acadia Savings & Loan. Regulatory changes in the early 1990s permitted Louisiana savings institutions to become state-chartered commercial banks. To support the transition, president Larrey Mouton organized ISB Financial Corporation, which completed a public offering on April 13, 1995. The institution's next transformation followed Daryl Byrd's arrival as chief executive in 1999. Under the IBERIABANK identity, the company pursued a broad acquisition program beginning in 2001. It bought community and regional banks in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Georgia, while also adding wealth management, mortgage, capital-markets, title, and small-business-finance capabilities. Key acquisitions included LBA Savings Bank, Alliance Bank, American Horizons Bank, Pulaski Bank and Trust, First Community Bank, and several Florida institutions. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 created direct costs through storm-related loan losses, facility repairs, and insurance deductibles. The experience encouraged the company to reduce its dependence on a single-state footprint. In 2007, it expanded outside Louisiana with the acquisition of Arkansas-based Pulaski Bank and Trust, accompanied by further Arkansas growth. The financial crisis produced another important growth phase. IberiaBank participated in FDIC-assisted transactions involving failed or distressed banks. In 2008 it assumed insured deposits from ANB Financial of Arkansas. In 2009 it acquired or assumed assets and branches associated with CapitalSouth in Alabama, Orion Bank and Century Bank in Florida, and Sterling Bank in eastern Florida. The company also repaid its TARP funds on March 31, 2009, an event described in the reference as a national first among financial institutions during that period. Expansion continued through transactions involving Omni Bank, Cameron State Bank, Florida Gulf Bank, Trust One Bank, Teche Holding Company, First Private, Florida Bank Group, Old Florida Bankshares, Georgia Commerce Bankshares, Sabadell United Bank, and Gibraltar Private Bank. By the end of its independent existence, the organization had a large southern footprint consisting of bank branches, loan-production offices, wealth-management locations, and a capital-markets office. In November 2019, IBERIABANK Corporation agreed to merge with First Horizon Bank of Memphis, Tennessee. The transaction closed on July 2, 2020. The surviving organization was based in Memphis and used the First Horizon name, thereby ending IberiaBank as a standalone bank brand. The former IberiaBank businesses became part of First Horizon's broader regional banking platform.
- 2020
Merged into First Horizon
[1]The merger closed on July 2, and the combined bank adopted the First Horizon name.
- 2019
Announced merger with First Horizon
[1]IBERIABANK Corporation and First Horizon Bank announced an agreement to combine their businesses.
- 2009
Repaid TARP funds
[1]IberiaBank repaid its Troubled Asset Relief Program funds on March 31 during the financial-crisis recovery period.
- 2007
Expanded beyond Louisiana
[1]The acquisition of Pulaski Bank and Trust in Arkansas marked the company's first expansion outside Louisiana.
- 1999
Daryl Byrd became chief executive
[1]Byrd's appointment preceded a sustained period of acquisitions and geographic diversification.
- 1995
ISB Financial Corporation completed an IPO
[1]A holding company was established to support the institution's transition toward commercial banking, and it completed an initial public offering on April 13.
- 1988
Became Iberia Savings Bank
[1]The bank changed its name and continued expanding beyond its original Iberia Parish market.
- 1956
Renamed Iberia Savings & Loan
[1]The organization adopted the Iberia Savings & Loan name as it continued operating as a thrift.
- 1887
Iberia Building Association opened
[1]The institution began operations on March 12 in New Iberia, Louisiana, as a savings and loan association focused on deposits and home mortgages.
Products and positioning
A diversified regional financial-services provider focused on consumer banking, commercial banking, mortgage finance, wealth management, and acquisitive expansion across the American South.
Retail banking · 1887
Consumer banking
IBERIABANK provided consumer deposit accounts, transaction banking, residential lending, and related branch-based services. These activities reflected the institution's original savings-and-loan orientation while forming part of its later full-service regional bank model.
Business banking
Commercial banking
The bank expanded from household deposits and mortgages into commercial banking as legal and regulatory conditions changed. Its business banking activities supported companies and institutions across its southern U.S. footprint.
Mortgage and online banking
VirtualBank
VirtualBank was the organization's mortgage-lending and online-banking division. It complemented the branch network with digitally delivered banking services and residential finance capabilities.
Wealth management
Iberia Wealth Advisors
Iberia Wealth Advisors supplied trust and asset-management services for affluent individuals, families, corporations, pension funds, foundations, endowments, and public and private institutions.
Investment banking
Iberia Capital Partners
Iberia Capital Partners operated in equity research, institutional sales, trading, and investment banking. Its customers included institutional investors, energy companies, pension managers, mutual funds, and hedge funds.
Small-business finance
Mercantile Capital Corporation
Mercantile Capital Corporation provided SBA 504 financing to small businesses acquiring real estate and equipment. Its lending territory covered all U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.
Title services
Lender's Title Group
Lender's Title Group provided title insurance and closing services for residential and commercial property transactions, refinancing, home-equity credit, government land projects, and real-estate-owned sales, particularly in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Brand decisions
2019
Agreed to merge with First HorizonM&ABackground
IBERIABANK sought to combine with another major southern regional bank after years of geographic and business expansion.
Action taken
IBERIABANK Corporation and First Horizon Bank announced a merger structured around a combined organization headquartered in Memphis and using the First Horizon name.
Aftermath
The transaction closed on July 2, 2020. The combined bank was described as having approximately $79 billion in assets and $58 billion in loans.
Combined assets and loans. $79 billion in assets and $58 billion in loans (At the 2020 merger)
2009
Repaid Troubled Asset Relief Program fundsStrategyBackground
During the financial crisis and its aftermath, the bank had received TARP support.
Action taken
IberiaBank repaid its TARP funds to the U.S. Treasury on March 31.
Aftermath
The reference identifies IberiaBank as the first financial institution in the United States to repay its TARP funds.
2007
Diversified beyond LouisianaStrategyBackground
Hurricane Katrina generated loan losses, repair expenses, and insurance costs and highlighted the risk of concentrating the business in one state.
Action taken
IBERIABANK expanded into Arkansas through the purchase of Pulaski Bank and Trust and subsequently broadened its southern footprint.
Aftermath
The bank developed a multistate regional platform and continued acquiring institutions in additional southern markets.
Recent events
Reported
Kalikow-EYC venture closes $42 million construction loan[2]
EYC Companies and The Kalikow Group closed a $42 million senior secured construction loan to finance a $67 million multifamily development in Huntsville, Alabama.
Reported
First Horizon agrees to acquire IberiaBank[3]
First Horizon National Corp. agreed to buy all the stock of IberiaBank Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion. The deal was expected to close in the second quarter of 2020.
Sources3 sources
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