Paul Davis

KS Bancorp disclosed in a legal filing that an takeover effort by First Citizens is spooking lenders and prompting prospects to delay and cancel plans to move deposits and lending relationships.

The mutual has agreed to buy Cape Ann Insurance, which specializes in personal insurance products.

The company has agreed to pay $89 million for Premier Commercial Bancorp. The acquisition would significantly increase its branch presence and lending in the Portland area.

Sterling would gain $458 million in loans and an origination platform by acquiring Advantage Funding Management.

OP Bancorp in Los Angeles aims to raise $20 million to fund organic growth and acquisitions.

Juniata Valley Financial used a combination of patience and guile to land a hard-to-get Pennsylvania bank after wooing it for more than a decade.

The issue had forced the Los Angeles company to scuttle its deal to acquire U&I Financial in Washington state.

Great Western is looking to hire a president to give CEO Ken Karels more time to focus on leadership and growth initiatives.

Parkway Acquisition in Virginia has agreed to buy Great State Bank for nearly $15 million.

The Seattle company first disclosed an issue in September, when it withdrew an application to buy Anchor Bancorp.

The company will also surpass $10 billion in assets when it buys Community Bank.

Savings Bank of Walpole and New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp believe merging help them preserve a banking model that has faced pressure in recent years. The CEO at Savings Bank will also replace New Hampshire Mutual's retiring leader.

Harrison Finance has 35 offices, nearly 140 employees and about $95 million of outstanding loans.

The company will still use the building for its main office, but it will move its administrative staff to another building.

First Citizens, which wants to buy KS Bancorp, has filed a lawsuit to challenge a so-called poison pill provision that the much smaller bank's board recently passed.

Achieva Credit Union, which recently formed a business to advise other acquisition-minded credit unions, has agreed to buy Preferred Community Bank.

The company agreed to buy Bank of River Oaks for $85 million in cash.

The Justice Department required the sales before signing off on MainSource's pending sale to First Financial in Cincinnati.

The California company has agreed to buy Grandpoint Capital, a business bank in Los Angeles, for $641 million.

At least eight banks are in various stages of formation, including two that have opened. While that is nowhere near the de novo activity of the early 2000s, it's a positively brisk pace compared with the standstill that existed for many years after the financial crisis.