In Brief: Fidelity of W. Palm Buying 1st Community

Published September 23, 2004, 7:12 p.m. EDT

Updated September 22, 2004, 6:13 p.m. EDT

1 Min Read

Fidelity Bankshares Inc. of West Palm Beach, Fla., announced Wednesday that it would acquire First Community Bancorp Inc. of Pahokee, Fla., for $27.1 million of cash and stock.

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First Community, the holding company for the $163 million-asset First Community Bank of Palm Beach County, operates five branches in central and western Palm Beach. The deal, scheduled to close in the first quarter, would boost Fidelity's share of the Palm Beach County deposit market to 8.5%.

First Community would be merged into the $3.4 billion-asset Fidelity Federal Bank and Trust. The buyer said that it expects cost savings of 25% but plans to close no branches, and that job cuts would be minimal.

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