TAMPA - Hemorrhaging money from bad loans, Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay and two sister banks failed in a last-minute attempt to raise money to stay afloat.

Late Friday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation closed three regional banks under common ownership: Tampa-based Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay, Fort Lauderdale-based Bank of Florida-Southeast and Naples-based Bank of Florida-Southwest. All three were owned by the holding company Bank of Florida Corp. of Naples.

With help from the FDIC, a Jacksonville-based bank known mostly for its Internet operations, EverBank, bought the banks' assets for an undisclosed sum. The Bank of Florida branches reopened as EverBank branches Tuesday, with customers' accounts transferring to the new bank.

Bank of Florida customers are joining a bigger bank in much better financial health.

EverBank has assets of about $9.6 billion, and its financial strength is rated as four stars - "excellent"- by bank rating firm BauerFinancial.

The three regional Bank of Florida subsidiaries had combined assets of about $1.5 billion, and all three rated zero stars by BauerFinancial. Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay was the smallest of the three, with assets of about $245.2 million.

Bank of Florida Corp. has 13 branches statewide, with two local branches operated by Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay.

According to observers, Bank of Florida's three banks were plagued with troubled loans, especially on commercial real estate, and suffered huge losses every quarter.

For example, Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay's "nonperforming assets," which include delinquent loans and repossessed properties, had grown to more than 13 percent of its total assets. The average bank in Florida has slightly more than 3 percent nonperforming assets, according to BauerFinancial.

Meanwhile, each of the three Bank of Florida subsidiaries was forced to reserve huge sums every quarter to account for loan losses. For example, Bank of Florida-Tampa Bay lost $9.4 million in the first quarter of this year, most of which stemmed from setting aside so much money for loan losses.

Losing so much money, the bank got in trouble with regulators for having too little capital, which threatened its existence.

EverBank sees its purchase of Bank of Florida's assets as a way to expand its private banking and wealth management operations, which target affluent customers, said EverBank Chairman Rob Clements.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865.