When TD Bank acquired The South Financial Group, parent  company of Carolina First last month, it was to extend the bank’s reach down the east coast from Maine to Florida.

“This is our footprint in the Carolinas,” said TD Bank  spokesperson Rebecca Acevedo.

TD Bank is based in New Jersey and Portland, Maine, but is owned by the TD Bank Financial group out of Toronto. TD Bank Financial Group also owns other entities like TD Waterhouse and TD Ameritrade.

The South Financial Group,  based in Greenville, S.C., was the  parent bank for Carolina First and Mercantile Bank in Florida.

TD Bank also recently acquired three other banks in Florida, giving them 169 branches in Florida, up from nine branches three years ago, according to Bharat Masrani, TD Bank’s head of U.S. personal and commercial banking in a conference call transcript.

“South Financial will give us a solid presence in South Carolina as one of the state’s leading community banks with over $6.6 billion in deposits and an 8 percent market share. And although the franchise  is less developed in North Carolina,  it will provide us with a beachhead from which to grow,” Masrani said  in the conference call about  the purchase.

“As the home to many Fortune 500 corporations, both North and South Carolina have strong reputations as excellent states in which to do business and are known for their low cost business environment. In addition, they have strong demographics with excellent population growth trends, expected to significantly exceed the national average in the coming years,” he said.

As of March 31, The South Financial Group had $12.4 billion  in total assets and 176 offices across North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. About 11 percent of Carolina First’s customer deposits were in North Carolina. The Wilmington area had five local branches.

TD Bank is one of the 15 largest commercial banks in the United States and has more than 1,000  locations from Maine to Florida.

The South Financial Group was looking for several options due to the downturn in the economy and their strong reliance on a declining real estate portolio.

“We did a lot of work looking at different alternatives and TD is a  cultural fit. They’re a great organization, if you look at how they deliver, they are very service-oriented and are well-known for providing customer service well-above the norm,” The South Financial Group CEO Lynn Harton told Greater Wilmington Business Journal.

Harton said that the merger will  be finished in August with changes in banking system and signage probably to come in 2011.

Harton said that he expects much of the bank’s staff to be retained.

“We anticipate absolutely no changes,” Harton said.

“However, you’ve got to keep in mind that all those positions will be needed until at least next year. They’re in a growth mode. They’re looking for talent.”