Bancshares of Florida Inc. in Naples has canceled its deal to buy Horizon Financial Corp. of Pembroke Pines.
Michael L. McMullan, the president and chief executive officer of the $297 million-asset Bancshares of Florida, said in a press release late Wednesday that it decided to pull out of the $11 million stock deal after learning Horizon's $90 million-asset Horizon Bank had entered into a regulatory agreement with the Office of Thrift Supervision.
The terms of that agreement have not been made public, and neither Mr. McMullan nor Erin Hickman, an OTS spokeswoman, would discuss its.
Robert Schweitzer, Horizon's president and CEO, declined to discuss both the OTS agreement and the deal's cancellation.
In the same press release in which it disclosed the deal's cancellation, Bancshares of Florida announced plans to open branches in Boca Raton and Coral Ridge in Palm Beach County. It also plans to charter a new community bank in the Tampa area, where it currently has a loan production office.
Acquiring Horizon would have expanded Bancshares of Florida's operations in Broward County. Each company has two branches there.
Mr. McMullan said in an interview Thursday that the experience with Horizon would not preclude Bancshares of Florida from doing deals in the future, but he also said it is clearly more comfortable with branch building.
