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United Community Banks, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Liberty National Bancshares, Inc. of Conyers, Georgia

Continues to Expand Footprint in Fast Growing Atlanta Markets

United Community Banks, Inc. , the third largest bank holding company headquartered in Georgia, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Liberty National Bancshares, Inc. Liberty has assets of $190 million and operates three full-service banking offices on the east side of metropolitan Atlanta. Two of its offices are in Conyers and one is in Covington, located in Rockdale and Newton counties, respectively.

Under terms of the agreement, Liberty's shareholders received 1.292 million shares of United Community Banks' common stock and $4.9 million in cash, for a total value of approximately $36.1 million.

"During the past 10 years, over 70 percent of United's growth has been organic. We continue to execute our balanced growth strategy that focuses on internal growth in our markets and selective de novo offices and acquisitions in high-growth markets in or contiguous to our existing footprint," explained Jimmy Tallent, President and Chief Executive Officer of United Community Banks. "Our partnership with Liberty National Bank is our third in the Atlanta metropolitan area this year, further strengthening our presence in communities that represent a significant growth opportunity for us. In the Atlanta market, United Community Banks now has $1.4 billion in assets and operates 8 community banks with 27 banking offices," Tallent added.

"We partner with institutions like Liberty that share our commitment to community banking and belief that our passion for individual customer service is a strong competitive differentiator. For our customers it means the best of both worlds -- a continued high level of personal service that only a community bank can deliver, coupled with products, services, and resources of a $5 billion banking organization," Tallent noted. "Our community banking business model is a critical component in consistently delivering superior financial performance for United and its shareholders," Tallent stated.

About United Community Banks, Inc.

Headquartered in Blairsville, United Community Banks is the third-largest bank holding company in Georgia. With this acquisition, United Community Banks has assets of $4.9 billion and operates 23 community banks with 83 banking offices located throughout north Georgia, metro Atlanta, coastal Georgia, western North Carolina and east Tennessee. The company specializes in providing personalized community banking services to individuals and small- to mid-size businesses in its markets. United Community Banks also offers the convenience of 24-hour access to its services through a network of ATMs, telephone and on-line banking. United Community Banks common stock is listed on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol UCBI. Additional information may be found at the company's web site, ucbi.com.