Premier Community Bankshares Inc. of Winchester, Va., has agreed to buy Albemarle First Bank of Charlottesville for $29 million in cash and stock.
The $120 million-asset Albemarle would be merged into Premier's $256 million-asset Rockingham Heritage Bank. The deal, announced last week, is expected to close next quarter and would boost Premier's assets to more than $800 million.
"The Charlottesville market has been a strategic priority for Premier Community Bankshares, and with Albemarle First Bank, we have found an excellent partner," Donald L. Unger, Premier's president and chief executive officer, said in a press release.
Albemarle had agreed last year to sell itself to $410 million-asset Millennium Bankshares Corp. of Reston, Va., but Millennium shareholders voted against the deal in November.
Albemarle has turned in only two profitable years and has lost more than $3 million since it was established in 1998. It earned $65,000 in the first nine months of last year.
After the vote, one Millennium shareholder who voted against the deal told American Banker that it came with "a lot of risk and not a lot of upside for the shareholders." Mr. Unger said in an interview that after diligently examining the bank's financials, Premier is convinced that Albemarle is now on the right track.
"We know the problems that … [Albemarle has] had in the past, and we believe that these problems are behind them and the timing is right for this deal," he said.
