Synovus CEO says $8.6B merger is ‘all about growth’ for Atlanta, Columbus
COLUMBUS — Leadership of Georgia’s largest homegrown bank said its ambitious growth plans will trickle down to every city where it has a major presence, regardless of where its future headquarters is located.
Synovus Financial, a banking company with a 137-year history in Columbus, announced in July it agreed to an $8.6 billion merger with Southeastern competitor Pinnacle Financial Partners. Taking on the Pinnacle name, the headquarters of the combined bank will be in Nashville, while a holding company will locate its home base in Atlanta.
The proposed merger raised concerns that Columbus would play third wheel to the pair of larger Southern cities, potentially shedding jobs or investment. Synovus CEO Kevin Blair, who will become the merged bank’s chief executive, said expansion should offset any potential downsides.
“Growth is the great calibrator to change,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If we can grow and prosper, all of our communities will benefit.”
Some mergers are about improving efficiency through quickly scaling, although that often requires cutting redundancies. Other mergers grow by taking two separate customer bases and combining them with minimal overlap.
Heath Schondelmayer, Synovus division CEO in Columbus, said combining with Pinnacle should result in the latter. The merger is projected to cut only 5% of both banks’ staff, and the resulting bank will be the country’s 15th-largest, covering nine states.
“It’s not about combining two banks and cutting the expenses out of it,” he said. “It’s about combining two banks and growing in the Southeast.”
The Synovus-Pinnacle merger could also set off a wave of other banking consolidation elsewhere in the U.S. as banks look to get bigger.
Following growth
The greater focus on Atlanta is an effort to plant a flag in a faster-growing metropolitan area and expand market share, Blair said. Synovus has about a 60% market share in Columbus but only 6% in Atlanta.
“We wanted to make sure that we planted our flag there (in Atlanta) because it’s an important place,” he said. “But by no means does that mean that there’s a relocation or movement of resources from here to there.”
Synovus employs about 1,200 in Columbus, making it one of the city’s largest private employers. It’s also an anchor in the city’s downtown, signing a 15-year lease in 2023 to occupy a four-story office building in a new development called Riverfront Place.
Blair and many Synovus executives have split their time between Columbus and Atlanta for years. Blair has a place at the Battery in Cobb County, which is near a Synovus office tower at 1100 Overton in the Cumberland area. He said the office is already full, so expansion could be on the horizon.
When it comes to logistics, Atlanta and Columbus have polar opposite reputations.
Atlanta boasts the world’s busiest airport and has been a transportation hub since its founding as Terminus, the end of the Western & Atlantic rail line in 1837. Columbus is sometimes called Georgia’s largest cul-de-sac, since its major thoroughfare of I-185 reaches a dead end just north of Fort Benning.
Bank transactions don’t need that type of transportation infrastructure, but banking provides different growth trajectories, especially for workers and clientele.
Population growth in metro Atlanta has starkly outpaced metro Columbus over the decades. Since 1970, the federally designated 29-county metro Atlanta area has seen its population balloon at a rate much faster than the Columbus metro region.
“The number one challenge we have with recruiting people to Columbus is when you’re a two-income provider, (one partner) can’t get a job here,” Blair said. “So you may move somebody here to be the head of risk, but their wife or husband can’t find a job.”
Columbus central
Blair said Columbus does have its competitive advantages.
Synovus is the largest U.S. bank not headquartered in a major metropolitan area. While that can limit recruitment, it can also increase retention of existing employees and appeal to workers who don’t want a big city lifestyle.
The merger will allow some positions to be more flexible on where they’re based, meaning there could be slow shifts between Atlanta, Columbus, Nashville and other bank offices.
“There’s not going to be this overnight movement,” Blair said. “But over time, as we have new positions, they could get filled in one of these other markets, potentially.”
He added that if the merged bank grows as expected, all of its offices “are going to have to keep pace,” saying expansion is possible.
In addition, Blair said Synovus’ status as a corporate citizen won’t fade away in Columbus.
About half the bank’s current philanthropic giving goes to Columbus organizations, including sponsoring the city’s revamped baseball stadium. Synovus Park, which will be renamed to Pinnacle Park to reflect the merger, is home of the Atlanta Braves’ AA minor league team the Columbus Clingstones.
“You’re not going to see us take that 50% of philanthropic giving and start peanut-buttering it around other markets,” he said. “That’s going to be maintained here (in Columbus).”
The merger is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals, and shareholder approvals, and other closing conditions.
“There’s so many industries that are shrinking and so many industries where you’re wondering what the future holds,” Blair said. “But this is all about growth.”
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
