Green Bankshares, the parent company of Middle Tennessee's 11th-largest bank, has agreed to sell a 90 percent stake to a Charlotte-based investment group that has been snapping up troubled banks across the Southeast.

North American Financial Holdings, which is run by industry veterans formerly at Bank of America, Fifth Third and Morgan Stanley, will pay $217 million for newly issued Green Bankshares stock. The deal will grow NAFH's asset base to more than $7 billion and give it 149 branches from Miami to Clarksville.

“This investment helps define NAFH as a broad Southeastern franchise,” said NAFH Chairman and CEO Gene Taylor. “The fast-growing Nashville and Knoxville markets serve as a natural extension of our western footprint and allow us to integrate our businesses seamlessly. With the capital from this investment, we believe GreenBank will be well positioned to benefit from an improving economy and we expect to close our investment and begin accelerating business development activities throughout Tennessee very quickly.”

When his acquisition is completed, Taylor will take over as Green Bankshares CEO from Stephen Rownd, who took over in the spring of last year. Rownd is expected to shift into a Tennessee market president role for NAFH.

Green Bankshares' sale looks set to conclude a tough stretch for the $2.4 billion Greeneville-based holding company, which has incurred loan losses of more than $240 million since 2007 and has been shrinking its loan books in an attempt to boost its capital ratios. Shares of the company (Ticker: GRNB) are up about 4 percent this morning to $2.35.