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Toronto-Dominion Bank continues its expansion south of the border with the purchase of South-Carolina based South Financial Group Inc. According to Business Week, TD Bank acquired all of South Financial's shares for $191.6 million in cash and stock. Once the deal is officially finalized Toronto Dominion Bank will immediately place among the top financial institutions in the U.S Southeast, acquiring 176 branches in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.

"Toronto-Dominion offered $61 million in cash or stock to buy all of South Financial's shares, the bank said today in a statement. The Toronto-based lender also agreed to buy South Financial preferred stock from the U.S. Treasury for $130.6 million in cash."

"The purchase, along with the acquisition of three Florida- based banks last month in a deal assisted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., gives Toronto-Dominion "significant" market share in the U.S. Southeast, Chief Executive Officer Edmund Clark said."

"You need to have enough presence that people think of you as one of their default choices," Clark said today in a telephone interview. "Between the FDIC deals that we did, plus this -- 170 stores -- we're now in the game."

"The bank will rank fourth by deposits in South Carolina and 21st in North Carolina, according to a presentation made to investors today."

"The lender began its U.S. consumer-banking strategy in 2005 after domestic bank mergers were blocked by the Canadian government. Toronto-Dominion will have about 1,300 branches in the country following the acquisitions announced over the last month, about 30 percent more than in Canada."

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original source Business Week