First Community is a financial holding company headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia that provides banking products and services through its wholly owned subsidiary First Community Bank
First Community Bankshares to merge with Surrey Bancorp. (Credit: Edar from Pixabay)
Bluefield, VA-based First Community Bankshares, Inc. (“First Community”) (NASDAQ: FCBC), parent company of First Community Bank, and Mount Airy, NC-based Surrey Bancorp (“Surrey”) (OTCPK: SRYB), parent company of Surrey Bank & Trust, jointly announced today their entry into an agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which First Community will acquire Surrey and its wholly owned bank subsidiary, Surrey Bank & Trust. As of September 30, 2022, Surrey Bank & Trust had total assets of approximately $500 million. Upon completion of the transaction, First Community is expected to have total consolidated assets in excess of $3.6 billion with branch locations in four states.
This combination will bring together two high-performing community banks that have historically produced returns on average assets well-above one percent and efficiency ratios below sixty percent while maintaining low-risk profiles. “We have long admired Surrey Bank & Trust for its financial performance and its government lending platform. We are looking forward to bringing the two franchises together to better serve our customers and local communities” said Gary R. Mills, President and CEO of First Community Bank.
Edward (Ted) C. Ashby III, CEO and Director of Surrey, commented, “When considering a long-term partner, we wanted a bank that shared our values of providing the highest level of banking services to our community, valued its employees and performed at a level worthy of its shareholders. In First Community, we found all those qualities and are confident that our combined franchise will continue to generate value for all our stakeholders.”
“We are pleased to announce our partnership with Surrey Bank & Trust, and I am confident the combination will create a leading community banking institution in northwestern North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. First Community’s commercial loan customers will benefit from Surrey’s government guarantee lending expertise, and Surrey’s customers will benefit from the additional scale, increased lending limits, and enhanced product and technology offerings of First Community. Shareholders, customers and employees of both banks will benefit greatly from future synergies and efficiencies,” said William (Will) P. Stafford, II, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Community.
The agreement and plan of merger provides for the merger of Surrey with and into First Community, with First Community as the surviving corporation. Under the terms of the agreement and plan of merger, each share of Surrey common and Class A common stock outstanding immediately prior to the merger will be converted into the right to receive 0.7159 shares of First Community common stock, which equates to $26.95 per share of Surrey common stock and an aggregate transaction value of approximately $113.2 million based on First Community’s recent 10-day volume-weighted average price.
First Community Bank and Surrey Bank & Trust have entered into a separate merger agreement providing for the merger of Surrey Bank & Trust with and into First Community Bank immediately following the merger of First Community and Surrey, with First Community Bank as the surviving bank.
The transaction, which received unanimous approval by both First Community’s and Surrey’s Board of Directors, is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Surrey’s shareholders and the receipt of all required regulatory approvals. All members of the Surrey Board of Directors owning shares have entered into support agreements to vote the shares of Surrey they own in favor of the transaction. The transaction is expected to be consummated in the second quarter of 2023. At that time, Mr. Ashby and one other current member of Surrey’s Board of Directors will join the Board of First Community Bank. Additionally, Pedro (Peter) A. Pequeno, II, Surrey’s President, and other key executives and employees plan to join the First Community team. We believe that joining together these two strong teams will ensure a successful transition of Surrey’s loan and deposit relationships.
Pequeno commented, “We wanted to partner with a financial institution that shared our values on how we treated our employees, customers, and community. The ability to combine our expertise in government guaranteed lending with a full suite of banking services offered by First Community was a winning combination for the families and businesses in the markets we serve.”
First Community expects the transaction to be minimally dilutive to tangible book value per share (non-GAAP) and to provide mid-single digit accretion to earnings per share. Performance Trust Capital Partners, LLC served as financial advisor to First Community, and Bowles Rice LLP served as legal counsel. Raymond James & Associates, Inc. served as financial advisor to Surrey, and Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP served as legal counsel.
Source: Company Press Release