Civitas Bankgroup Inc. of Franklin, Tenn., is planning to sell its smallest subsidiary, the $8 million-asset Bank of Mason, to a group of investors.
The buyers' group is led by the Nashville banker Attilio Galli and includes investors from the Nashville merchant bank 2nd Generation Capital LLC.
Mr. Galli, a former chief financial officer of Synovus Financial Corp's $631 million-asset Bank of Nashville, said he decided buying a Tennessee bank would be quicker and cheaper than establishing one.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. The group did not say how much it would pay.
Bank of Mason, founded in 1902, would change its name to BrightChoice Bank and would focus on selling banking products and commercial insurance to small businesses in the Nashville area.
Civitas, with $1 billion of assets, owns six other banks. It acquired Bank of Mason in July 2000 for $535,000.
