North Carolina

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. plans to sell its majority stake in a North Carolina bank to a private-equity-backed group.

The dismal results came after the $1.6 billion-asset company said it would sell a majority of its common stock to private-equity-backed North American Financial Holdings.

Bank of Granite in Granite Falls, N.C., cited higher credit-related expenses in reporting that it third-quarter loss widened to $4.3 million.

Capital Bank rejected a higher per-share offer from another private-equity firm in favor of a $181 million bid from North American Financial for a majority stake in the company.

NewDominion Bank of Charlotte, N.C., has hired a banking veteran to lead the company out of its consent order.

North American Financial Holdings Inc. is set to pick up a big chunk of a North Carolina bank in a bid to build a Southeast powerhouse.

Carolina Bank Holdings Inc. reported a third-quarter loss Tuesday of $2.1 million, compared to a $110,000 loss a year earlier.

Raising capital through the stock market has become a dicey prospect for banking companies, with a growing number delaying such offerings while others are pursuing alternate funding routes.

Capital Bank Corp. of Raleigh, which has announced plans to raise 34.5 million shares in a public offering, said it expects some improvement in its credit quality in the third quarter.

About 32%, or 47, of the 146 banks that acquired a failed bank from Jan. 1, 2009, through Aug. 19 of this year have recorded a net bargain-purchase gain from the failed bank's assets.

Weststar Financial Services Corp. in Asheville, N.C., has reported a $14 million second-quarter loss, compared with net income of $434,000 a year earlier.

First Citizens Bancshares Inc. is one of the more peculiar success stories — and for that reason, its small band of followers say, worthy of imitation by struggling peers in need of fresh ideas.

North Carolina banking titan and civic leader John Arthur Forlines Jr. died Tuesday. He was 92.

BancTenn Corp. last week filed an application with the Federal Reserve to form a bank holding company in order to acquire up to 20% of a commercial bank in North Carolina.

The $2.2 billion-asset company announced Tuesday that it has received $35 million of fresh capital through a private placement led by Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a New York private-equity firm that includes former Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Ken Thompson.

Bank of Granite Corp. of Granite Falls, N.C., said last week that its bank unit is undercapitalized.

When Bank of North Carolina took over Beach First National Bank in Myrtle Beach on April 9, the seller was the first bank failure in South Carolina in 11 years.

Four Oaks Fincorp Inc. and a shareholder are engaged in a proxy battle over a proposal to separate the North Carolina company's chairman and CEO roles.

Four Wachovia Corp. veterans plan to build a major regional bank in the Carolinas and Virginia, and are putting a twist on the strategy similar groups are using.

Since calling off a round of capital-raising last fall, Citizens South Banking Corp. has adopted a more opportunistic approach to raising funds.