Paul Davis

The acquisition also includes $525 million in deposits and $120 million in loans.

The cold, hard truth of bank mergers is that rivals often steal top producers and convince customers the bigger bank won’t care about them anymore. The CEOs of the merging banks explain their retention efforts.

Tens of millions of dollars of M&A costs and a decline in mortgage activity offset higher loan income in the first quarter at the two banks, which also offered a timeline for their rebranding and shareholder votes.

The New Jersey company agreed to buy BoeFly, which connects franchisors, small businesses, lenders and loan brokers.

The company could use its share of proceeds from the IPO to repay debt and pursue bank acquisitions.

The companies had planned to make Chemical CEO David Provost the new leader before October's market gyrations led them to break off talks. When they revisited the deal, several things changed — including Provost's role.

Community banks are relying more on analytics, incentives and business partnerships in hopes of stemming an outflow of deposit relationships.

The North Carolina company was hit with a tax penalty tied to its purchase of Chattahoochee Bank of Georgia.

The Montana company agreed to buy Heritage Bancorp for $241 million.

The first quarter proved sluggish for overall merger activity. Here are notable deals announced in March.