The South Financial Group Completes Purchase of Five BankAtlantic Branches; Expands...

The South Financial Group Completes Purchase of Five BankAtlantic Branches; Expands Orlando Presence

GREENVILLE, S.C.--(Business Wire)--
The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSFG) ("TSFG") today
announced the completion of its purchase of assets and assumption of
deposits and other liabilities associated with five retail branch
offices from BankAtlantic, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BankAtlantic
Bancorp (NYSE: BBX). The five branch offices, all located in Orlando,
Florida, became part of Mercantile Bank, The South Financial Group's
Florida banking operations.

With the five branch offices, Mercantile Bank is adding
approximately $25 million in deposits and approximately $6 million in
retail loans. Combined with its existing offices, Mercantile Bank now
operates 14 branch offices in the Orlando area with deposits of
approximately $325 million and loans of approximately $500 million.
Related to this transaction, The South Financial Group expects to
record approximately $1 million in one-time conversion costs in second
quarter 2008 and less than $1 million in intangible assets.

"The new branch locations mark a significant step in growing
Mercantile's retail banking presence and deposits in the Orlando
market," said Donald L. Gaudette, Jr., Mercantile Bank Market
President for Central Florida. "We welcome our new customers and
employees and look forward to serving the Orlando area through an
expanded network of well-located branches, personalized customer
service, and competitive products and services."

General Information

The South Financial Group is the largest publicly-traded bank
holding company headquartered in South Carolina and ranks among the
top 50 U.S. commercial bank holding companies in total assets. At
March 31, 2008, it had approximately $13.7 billion in total assets and
now has 180 branch offices in Florida, North Carolina, and South
Carolina. TSFG focuses on fast-growing banking markets in the
Southeast, concentrating its growth in metropolitan statistical areas.
TSFG operates Carolina First Bank, which conducts banking operations
in North Carolina and South Carolina (as Carolina First Bank), in
Florida (as Mercantile Bank), and on the Internet (as Bank CaroLine).
At March 31, 2008, approximately 46% of TSFG's total customer deposits
were in South Carolina, 39% were in Florida, and 15% were in North
Carolina. Investor information is available at www.thesouthgroup.com.

The South Financial Group, Inc.
Mary M. Gentry, EVP, Investor Relations, 864-421-1068
Christopher T. Holmes, EVP, Retail Banking and IR,
864-255-8970

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