Alabama Credit Union to Buy Flint River National Bank in Georgia

Five Star Credit Union in Dothan, Ala., has agreed to buy Flint River National Bank in Camilla, Ga.

The $260 million-asset Five Star said it will buy all the loans and the deposits at the $23 million-asset Flint River. Five Star said it values all of the seller's assets at $21 million, which includes a discount to the loan portfolio.

Flint River lost $995,000 in 2012, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The deal came together quickly, said Michael Bell, a lawyer at Howard & Howard who represented Five Star. "All regulators are getting much more comfortable with these kinds of deals as we establish more processes and procedures around them," he added.

Earlier this year, Bell told Credit Union Journal to expect more credit unions to buy banks. "The Southeast has such a volume of small banks and the area is ripe for this kind of arrangement," he said at that time.

Four credit unions have acquired banks in the last two years. In Baltimore, Municipal Employees Credit Union is buying the $61 million-asset Advance Bank. Wisconsin's Landmark Credit Union bought Hartford Savings Bank; Massachusetts' GFA Federal Credit Union acquired New Hampshire's Monadnock Savings Bank, and Michigan's United Federal Credit Union acquired Griffith Savings Bank in Indiana.

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