Shares of community banking companies have fallen out of favor with investors, but many bankers say now appears to be a good time to gobble them up.

MIDWEST

The nation's fastest-growing big city is also the hottest market for start-up banks.

Hancock Bancorp Inc. in Hawesville, Ky., has a deal to acquire Community First Bancorp Inc. in Madisonville for $3.6 million in cash.

MB Financial Bank in Chicago said Tuesday that it plans to open six banking centers in Walt's Food Centers, expanding its footprint in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago and entering northwest Indiana.

Shares of BCSB Bankcorp Inc. plunged Tuesday after the Baltimore mutual holding company said that its planned conversion to a 100% stock-owned company has been put on hold due to weak demand for its shares.

One of CountryBank USA's business customers wants to expand its fast-food restaurant and is seeking a $35,000 unsecured loan — the exact type of loan for which the bank would want a Small Business Administration guarantee.

Carter Bank and Trust in Martinsville, Va., is trying to fend off a hostile takeover offer for Bank Building Corp., which owns 37% of Carter's branches, by negotiating to buy the company itself.

Eagle Bancorp Inc. in Bethesda, Md., has announced plans to buy hometown rival Fidelity and Trust Corp. for $48.8 million of stock.

Shares of Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. fell Monday, after the Lititz, Pa., company disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will boost its loan-loss provision by $11.1 million this quarter.

The Federal Housing Finance Board has appointed three experienced directors for three-year terms at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas. The Dallas bank announced Friday that its vice chairman, Mary E. Ceverha of Dallas, and Bobby L. Chain of Hattiesburg, Miss., will serve another term. And Patricia P. Brister of St. Tammany Parish, La., who was vice chairman before leaving in 2004 at the end of her first three-year term, is to return to the board. The Dallas bank announced merger discussions with the Home Loan Bank of Chicago in August after American Banker learned of the talks. In October the Finance Board gave the merger discussions more momentum when it completed a cease-and-desist order against the Chicago bank, imposing capital requirements and dividend restrictions. The talks could result in a combination as soon as early 2008, observers say.

Millennium Bancshares Corp. in Reston, Va., said Monday that it plans to sell its two branches in the Richmond area to EVB, the banking unit of Eastern Virginia Bankshares in Tappahannock.

It was only a matter of time before Nicholas S. Schorsch started buying branch and office properties from banks again.

Shareholders of TierOne Corp. of Lincoln, Neb., have approved its deal to be sold to the real estate investment trust CapitalSource Inc., but the banking company's board still plans to renegotiate the terms if the buyer's stock continues to trade down.

Morrill Bankshares Inc. of Merriam, Kan., is getting out of the Texas banking market and the family-owned Austin Bank of Jacksonville, Tex., is entering new markets in the first bank acquisition deal in Texas announced this quarter.

Meta Financial Group Inc. in Storm Lake, Iowa, has agreed to sell its smallest subsidiary, the $39 million-asset MetBank West Central, to Anita Bancorp. in Atlantic, Iowa, for $8.3 million in stock.

Century Bank in Parma, Ohio, has agreed to acquire Liberty Bank in Beachwood for $35.9 million in cash and stock and intends to go public to fund the deal.

First Financial Northwest Inc. of Renton, Wash., intends to increase its loan-loss provision by $4.5 million this quarter, because of problem residential construction loans.

Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. in Lititz, Pa., said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it expects its loan losses to rise in the fourth quarter and that it will boost its loss provision by $11.1 million.