SOUTHERN PINES, N.C., Mar. 4, 2016–(PRNewswire)–First Bancorp (NASDAQ: FBNC), the parent company of First Bank, announces today that it has reached an agreement to exchange its seven First Bank branches located in Virginia, where it does business as First Bank of Virginia, to First Community Bank in return for six of that bank’s branches located in North Carolina. Four of the six branches expected to be acquired are in Winston-Salem, with the other two branches being in the Charlotte-metro markets of Mooresville and Huntersville. First Community Bank is a community bank headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia, and is a subsidiary of First Community Bancshares, Inc.
Subject to regulatory approval, the simultaneous exchange of branches is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016. In the exchange, it is expected that substantially all deposits and certain loans assigned to these branches will transfer. Currently, First Bank’s branches in Virginia have approximately $150 million in deposits, while the First Community Bank branches have approximately $130 million in deposits. The agreement calls for each side to pay the other a deposit premium based on a scale of deposit account types.
As it relates to loans, subject to each bank’s due diligence and the automatic exclusion of adversely classified loans, all of First Bank’s performing loans located at its Virginia branches will transfer to First Community Bank, and a like amount of First Community Bank’s loans located at the six branches in North Carolina will transfer to First Bank. It is currently estimated that the amount of loans that will be transferred between the two banks will be up to $175 million, with all loans being transferred at par value. The agreement also calls for each bank’s branch premises to be transferred at carrying value.
Richard Moore, Chief Executive Officer of First Bancorp, commented, “Through this exchange, both banks achieve further concentration of banking operations in their respective core operating markets. Additionally, this transaction complements recent investments by our bank in the Triad and Charlotte-Metro Regions. First Community Bank is a community bank much like First Bank, and our customers will be in good hands.”
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