In Brief: First Banks Buying San Diego Community

First Banks Inc. of St. Louis announced Wednesday that it had agreed to buy San Diego Community Bank of Chula Vista, Calif., for $25.5 million in cash.

First Banks, which has $9.4 billion of assets, had been looking to expand in the San Diego area, where it has one branch, said president and chief executive Allen H. Blake in a press release. The $92.4 million-asset San Diego Community has three branches.

Its shareholders would receive $9 a share. The deal is expected to close next quarter.