State Bank Names Wheeler General Counsel

ATLANTA, Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- State Bank Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: STBZ) today announced that James C. Wheeler has joined the company as Executive Vice President and General Counsel.  Before joining State Bank, Mr. Wheeler served as chair of the financial institutions practice at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP in Atlanta.

"We are fortunate to have Jim join State Bank. He has worked with our management team for years in our banking ventures prior to State Bank," said Joe Evans, Chairman and CEO of State Bank.  "Jim brings a strong background in corporate, regulatory, and merger-acquisition transactions, and has worked closely with industry regulators and banking industry associations."

Prior to his tenure at Morris, Manning & Martin, Mr. Wheeler was a partner at the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP, specializing in financial institutions practice.  

Mr. Wheeler has a finance degree from Florida State and earned his law degree from Duke University. He and his wife Sara Kay have two children and they live in Atlanta.

About State Bank Financial Corporation and State & Trust Company

Atlanta-based State Bank Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:STBZ) is the holding company for State Bank & Trust Company, one of Georgia's best-capitalized banks, with $2.77 billion in assets as of June 30, 2011. State Bank has locations in Metro Atlanta and Bibb, Houston, Dooly, and Jones counties in Middle Georgia.  

State Bank has been named the top performing bank in the United States, according to Bank Director magazine's 2011 Bank Performance Scorecard, a ranking of the 150 largest U.S. publicly traded banks and thrifts based on 2010 calendar-year financials.

In 2009, State Bank acquired assets and deposits of the six bank subsidiaries of Security Bank Corporation, The Buckhead Community Bank and First Security National Bank in transactions facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  In 2010, State Bank acquired assets and deposits of NorthWest Bank & Trust of Acworth, Georgia. And in 2011, it acquired assets and deposits of United Americas Bank of Atlanta.

State Bank raised $300 million in capital, including investments from the executive management team, to facilitate its acquisitions.

Over the past twenty-five years, State Bank Chairman and CEO Joe Evans and his management team have led some of Georgia's most successful community banks, including Flag Financial Corp., Century South Banks, and Bank Corporation of Georgia. State Bank and Trust Company's headquarters are in Macon, Georgia.

To learn more about State Bank, visit www.statebt.com.

SOURCE State Bank Financial Corporation