UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): July 24, 2018

Cadence Bancorporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(713) 871-4000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company  ☑

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

On July 26, 2018, Cadence Bancorp, LLC (the “Selling Stockholder”) completed a secondary offering (the “Offering”) of 12,500,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), of the Company, at a price to the public of $28.40 per share, less underwriting discounts and commissions, as described in a prospectus supplement, dated July 24, 2018, filed with the Commission on July 26, 2018.

In connection with the Offering, the Company entered into an Underwriting Agreement, dated July 24, 2018 (the “Underwriting Agreement”), by and among the Company, the Selling Stockholder and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC as Underwriter. Upon completion of the Offering, the Selling Stockholder held approximately 25.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, as compared to approximately 40.9% immediately prior to the completion of the Offering.

The shares of Class A Common Stock sold by the Selling Stockholder in the Offering were registered pursuant to the Registration Statement on Form S-3ASR (Commission File No. 333-225075), which was filed with the Commission on May 21, 2018 (the “Registration Statement”). The Company did not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of such shares of Class A Common Stock.

The Underwriting Agreement is filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. Exhibits 1.1 and 5.1 contained in Item 9.01 hereof are incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement.

(d) Exhibits.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.