Georgia

Former lawyer Kenneth Lehman will pay at least $10 million for a controlling stake in ABB Financial in Atlanta.

Lynn Harton was finally named CEO of United Community Bank after a five-year apprenticeship, though Jimmy Tallent remains CEO of the parent company. The executives have long touted an ability to bounce ideas off each other as a reason for United's success.

Like many banks its size, CenterState in Florida may need to venture out of state to find a big enough acquisition to make additional compliance costs worthwhile.

Increased dealings in direct consumer lending and guaranteed student loans offset a decline in mortgage-related income. A lower loan-loss provision also helped the bottom line.

The region is responsible for a third of all bank sellers — and more than half of the industry's overall deal volume.

The North Carolina company's purchase of Chattahoochee Bank will add a branch and loan production office to its existing operations in northern Georgia.

The Georgia bank will pay $124 million for Four Oaks Fincorp, buying a bank with a large operation in Raleigh, N.C.

Pinnacle Financial Partners closed in on $20 billion in assets by buying BNC. It now has to integrate the North Carolina bank, while finding ways to boost profit and adapt to increased regulatory burden.

AloStar was formed in 2011 by an investor group that bought the failed Nexity Bank in Birmingham, Ala.

More than half of the company's loans and deposits would be in the Atlanta area after it buys Resurgens Bancorp.