BNC Bancorp to Shutter Four Blue Ridge Branches

BNC Bancorp in Thomasville, N.C., announced Wednesday that it would close four of the 10 branches it inherited last month when it acquired the failed Blue Ridge Savings Bank of Asheville, N.C.

The $2.2 billion-asset parent of Bank of North Carolina said in a press release that it will consolidate the branches into other branches to cut expenses and use the savings to broaden its commercial services in its new western North Carolina markets. The branches in Stanley, Fletcher and West Asheville, N.C., and Greer, S.C., are expected to close by the end of the year.  

BNC assumed the assets and deposits of the $161 million-asset Blue Ridge after regulators closed it last month. In September, BNC also struck a deal to acquire the $52 million-asset Regent Bank in Greenville, S.C. That deal is expected to close early next year.