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Suncoast Schools, GTE credit unions announce merger plans

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BY MICHAELSASSO

THE TAMPA TRIBUNE

Published: March 6, 2009

TAMPA - Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union and GTE Federal Credit Union, two of the Bay area's biggest credit unions, plan to merge, the companies announced Tuesday.

The two Tampa-based financial institutions will conduct due diligence for up to six months, examining each other's financial statements, operations and loan quality. Then, the merger plan would be turned over to regulators for review.

Both credit unions and regulators will have to approve the merger and it wasn't clear today how long that might take, the companies said in a news release.
Bucky Sebastian, president and chief executive officer of GTE credit union, said merging will give customers of each credit union access to more branches and a bigger ATM network, and will create greater efficiency for the companies.

"We believe this merger would help both credit unions achieve their ultimate goal to provide better value to our member-owners," added Tom Dorety, president of Suncoast Schools FCU.

According to the release, Suncoast Schools is Florida's largest credit union and the seventh largest in the country. It has 473,000 members, operates 50 branches and has assets of $6 billion.
GTE Federal Credit Union has 205,000 members, operates 38 branches and has more than $1.8 billion in assets.

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