United Community Financial (UCFC) in Youngstown, Ohio, has raised $39.9 million in a private offering.

The Boca Raton, Fla. company announced Friday it has agreed to by Enterprise Bancorp in North Palm Beach, Fla.

First Bancshares (FBMS) in Hattiesburg, Miss., has raised $20 million to finance its purchase of a bankrupt Gulf Coast lender.

CorTrust Bank in Mitchell, S.D., has acquired a one-branch bank in Blaine, Minn.

Changes in regulation, the economy and technology have brought the retail banking industry to multiple crossroads. Some of the country's most senior bank executives gathered this month to ask each other for directions.

Temenos, the Geneva-based core banking software maker, is buying TriNovus, an Alabama-based developer of software-as-a-service for community banks.

Investor Umberto Fedeli began pushing for changes at PVF Capital as early as 2007. After joining the board, helping the company turn itself around and eventually sell itself, he reflects on what it took to survive.

Making bank buyouts work has long been a risky business. As the sudden ouster of First Niagara (FNFG) CEO John Koelmel shows, it may have gotten riskier still. Behind the perils are the complications of conducting due diligence, evaluating troubled assets, navigating regulations and pleasing dilution-averse shareholders.

Peyton Patterson. Cathy Nash. Al de Molina. These and other names surfaced as possible successors to John Koelmel, who was ousted this week as CEO of First Niagara in Buffalo, N.Y.

Ally Bank said Thursday that it plans to sell a portfolio of mortgage-servicing rights to Quicken Loans for approximately $280 million. The loans have an unpaid principal balance of $34 billion as of Jan. 31 and are expected to be refinanced after the sale.

Yadkin Valley Financial (YAVY) in Elkin, N.C., is selling a branch to Union Bank & Trust Company in Oxford, N.C.

Shareholders of ECB Bancorp (ECBE) have approved the Engelhard, N.C., company's sale to Crescent Financial (CRFN).

The current M&A cycle has its first cautionary tale in John Koelmel and his departure from First Niagara. The Buffalo bank expanded rapidly but erred in its deal for the HSBC branches.

Holding companies facing looming debt maturities are exposed to the risk of a forced sale or possible forfeiture of the stock of their bank subsidiaries.

The next CEO at First Niagara Financial Group (FNFG), whether it ends up being interim leader Gary Crosby or someone else, will have his or her hands full overseeing the Buffalo company's comeback.

Gary Crosby will receive $1 million once he finishes his stint at interim president and CEO of First Niagara in Buffalo, N.Y.

First Niagara (FNFG) Chief Executive John Koelmel, an aggressive bank buyer who described himself in basketball terms as a "shooter," fittingly lost his job on the eve of the March Madness tournament. Here's a look at his trajectory at the bank.

InvesTex Credit Union has agreed to acquire StarTrust Federal Credit Union, the troubled former Enron credit union, in a combination of Houston institutions.

VION Receivable Investments is offering for sale a $1.28 billion portfolio of charged-off loans - including $880 million in late-stage agency recall accounts.

Bank of Virginia (BOVA) in Midlothian is committing more than $80 million to two programs involving federally backed debt.