ECB, Hampton Roads Terminate North Carolina Branch Deal

ECB Bancorp Inc. will no longer buy the deposits and certain assets of seven North Carolina branches from Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., after funding for the deal fell through.

The $922 million-asset ECB said in February that a plan to raise roughly $80 million through a private placement offering of common to private-equity groups and institutional investors fell through because one investor did not receive regulatory approval. The Engelhard, N.C., company had been working on a new deal.

The companies said that they had mutually agreed to terminate the deal, which was struck last July.

"It is unfortunate that, due to circumstances beyond our control, we were unable to complete the transaction with Bank of Hampton Roads," A. Dwight Utz, ECB's president and chief executive, said in a press release. "I would like to take this opportunity to confirm that our company is well capitalized."

The $2.2 billion-asset Hampton Roads said in June that it was looking to sell 10 branches and its mortgage and insurance businesses to cut costs and focus on community banking in its core markets.

Hampton Roads said in a separate press release that it was in the process of finding a new buyer for the branches. It also said that it will still close a branch in Roper, N.C., and consolidate its accounts with a branch in Plymouth, N.C., by mid-April.