First Tennessee Bank to significantly expand restaurant franchise business with acquisition of loans from GE Capital

MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 27, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Tennessee Bank, the regional bank of First Horizon National Corp. FHN, will significantly expand its restaurant franchise finance business following its acquisition of approximately $637 million in restaurant franchise loans from GE Capital.

First Tennessee will acquire the Southeast and Southwest regional loan portfolios from GE Capital's restaurant franchise finance business. The all-cash transaction includes loans outstanding of approximately $637 million as of May 31. Specific terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to First Horizon's earnings per share. The acquired loans will be combined with existing First Tennessee relationships to establish a restaurant franchise finance specialty lending business. The new line of business will have more than $800 million of outstanding loans after the transaction closes, which is expected to happen in the third quarter. 

"Our bankers are very good at understanding businesses, building relationships and offering products to meet the unique needs of customers in our specialty lines of business," said David Popwell, president of banking for First Horizon. "We already have several commercial bankers who work closely with restaurant franchise customers. As we build out our new restaurant franchise finance specialty line of business, we will be better able to meet customer needs and court new customers based on the strength of our expanding expertise."

About First Horizon
The 4,300 employees of First Horizon National Corp. FHN provide financial services through more than 170 bank locations across Tennessee and the southern U.S. and 29 FTN Financial offices across the U.S. The company was founded during the Civil War in 1864 and has the 14th oldest national bank charter in the country. FTN Financial is a capital markets industry leader in fixed income sales, trading and strategies for institutional customers in the U.S. and abroad. First Horizon has been recognized as one of the nation's best employers by Forbes, Working Mother and American Banker magazines. More information is available at www.FirstHorizon.com.

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