SOUTHERN PINES, N.C.,
March 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."
First Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in
Southern Pines, North Carolina
with total assets of approximately $3.4
billion. Its principal activity is the ownership and
operation of First Bank, a state-chartered community bank that
operates 88 branches, with 75 branches operating in North Carolina, 6 branches in South Carolina (Cheraw, Dillon, Florence, and Latta), and 7 branches in Virginia (Abingdon, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Fort Chiswell, Radford, Salem and Wytheville), where First Bank does business as
First Bank of Virginia. First Bank
also has loan production offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Greenville, North Carolina. First Bancorp's
common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the
symbol "FBNC."
Please visit our website at www.LocalFirstBank.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which
statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties.
Forward-looking statements are statements that include projections,
predictions, expectations or beliefs about future events or results
or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. Such
statements are often characterized by the use of qualifying words
(and their derivatives) such as "expect," "believe," "estimate,"
"plan," "project," "anticipate," or other statements concerning
opinions or judgments of the Company and its management about
future events. Factors that could influence the accuracy of
such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
the financial success or changing strategies of the Company's
customers, the Company's level of success in integrating
acquisitions, actions of government regulators, the level of market
interest rates, and general economic conditions. For
additional information about the factors that could affect the
matters discussed in this paragraph, see the "Risk Factors" section
of the Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K available
at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to
update or revise forward-looking statements. The Company is
also not responsible for changes made to the press release by wire
services, internet services or other media.
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SOURCE First Bancorp