Sunshine Bancorp in Plant City, Fla., has agreed to buy Community Southern Holdings in Lakeland, Fla.

MutualFirst Financial in Muncie, Ind., is facing a proxy battle from two of its investors.

National Penn Bancshares in Allentown, Pa., has agreed to repurchase $75 million of its common stock held by Warburg Pincus.

The $6 billion-asset Pinnacle said in a press release Wednesday that it paid $75 million for a 30% stake in Bankers Healthcare Group in Southwest Ranches, Fla.

Hudson Valley Holding in Yonkers, N.Y., swung to a profit as it prepares to sell itself to Sterling Bancorp in Montebello, N.Y.

Cheviot Financial in Cincinnati will soon have a new chief executive.

Premier Bancshares in Omaha, Neb., has agreed to buy Farmers Bank and Trust in Nebraska City.

Two community banks on Tuesday disclosed plans to raise capital by selling subordinated debt.

Management training programs are slowly returning to smaller banks decades after belt-tightening led to their demise. Rigorous regulatory scrutiny, combined with a need for improved risk management and increased income, are spurring the comeback.

Premara Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has a new chief executive.

TowneBank in Hampton Roads, Va., reported a lower quarterly profit due to higher costs tied to its recent acquisitions.

BOK Financial in Tulsa, Okla., has hired the wealth management team of Denver Retirement Partners.

Bank of America is following Wells Fargo by putting out for sale the last of its federally guaranteed student loans. The move should be positive for the bank, and in theory it may even have a chance to again reap returns tied to the loans, but without bearing all of the risk.

Three recent deals involving midsize sellers have gone far reversing regional bankers' fears of M&A. Still, the real evidence of progress must involve seeing those deals close.

Peoples Community National Bank in Bremen, Ga., has changed its name and logo.

Terry Robinson, a longtime California banker, died on Jan. 11, three days before his Manhattan Bancorp announced a proposed merger with Plaza Bancorp. Manhattan, which is operating under an OCC order, did not publicly disclose Robinson's death, or his Dec. 31 retirement, even though he played an integral role negotiating the merger.

Kentucky First Federal Bancorp is merging its two banks.

Revising the current control rules could give banks access to more capital from private equity, hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has received regulatory approval to form a broker-dealer subsidiary that will expand its merchant banking capabilities.

BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received regulatory approval to buy Citigroup's remaining branches in Texas.