MOULTRIE, Ga. - ABC Bancorp announced on Wednesday that it would buy Golden Isle Financial Holdings Inc. of St. Simons Island, Ga., for a combination of cash and stock.
The deal, ABC's second in three months, is expected to close this year. ABC, a multibank holding company with $825 million of assets, said the deal would be valued at $20 million to $25 million. The company also has a deal for $48 million-asset Tri-County Bank in Trenton, Fla., which is expected to close in the third quarter. The two deals would boost ABC above $1 billion of assets.
First Bank of Brunswick, Ga., the subsidiary of $147 million-asset Golden Isle, would keep its name and charter. ABC, which has nine banking subsidiaries, would let First Bank retain its board, president, and chief executive officer.
Jack Hunicutt, ABC's president and chief executive officer, said that the Golden Isle deal would increase the company's profitability and move it into an "attractive" market where it now has no presence. He also said that he hopes a $1 billion-asset ABC would attract the investment community.
