The company agreed to pay $162 million to buy First South Bancorp in Washington, N.C. It is the fifth time this year that a bank in North Carolina has agreed to be sold to a buyer from another state.

The Illinois company agreed to pay $44 million to buy Guaranty Bank, the biggest institution based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Here are 10 banks the investment banking firm KBW says are ripe M&A targets because they are in hot markets, face various growth challenges that make them vulnerable or have private-equity owners looking to cash out.

BCB Bancorp will pay $20 million for Indus American Bank, a New Jersey institution that focuses on the South Asian-American business community. Indus American lost a total of $2.5 million in 2015 and 2016.

The Montana company has agreed to buy Columbine Capital in a deal that will add five branches and $330 million in loans in Colorado.

Banco Santander stepped in to take over stricken rival Banco Popular Espanol in a deal brokered by regulators that imposes billions of losses on investors.

Spain's largest bank to pay a little over a dollar to save troubled domestic rival Banco Popular; House finance committee says CFPB director dragged his feet on Wells phony accounts scandal.

Citizens Financial is going out of market to find midsize businesses in need of credit or advisory services in uncertain times. It is a good example of the resiliency that regional banks are showing amid softer loan demand, Washington gridlock and still-low interest rates.

Stilwell Group, which has been pressuring the Ohio company to sell itself, fell 36,000 votes shy of taking a board seat.

President to name former One West lieutenant to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to head OCC; Wells plunges to number 100 from seventh in Barron's rankings of most respected public companies.

Mackinac Savings Bank is the first bank acquisition for IBM Southeast Employees’ Credit Union.

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who in December agreed to exit a minority-owned Chinese investment-banking joint venture, said the U.S. bank is seeking to find a new structure that would eventually give it full control.

The California Reinvestment Coalition is pressing regulators to reject the $700 million bank merger unless PacWest commits more resources to underserved groups in Southern California.

The Louisiana company's board has made it clear that independence is "not a God-given right" and wants new management to address energy loan issues, underwriting, capital and expenses.

Merchant acquirers are racing to sell "integrated payments," or a one-stop shop for transaction processing and myriad other services that stores can tie to the point of sale. But small to medium sized businesses are not often the targets for these efforts.

The New York company, which plans to raise about $40 million by going public, could also use the funds to make acquisitions.

More than half of the company's loans and deposits would be in the Atlanta area after it buys Resurgens Bancorp.

For the second time this year, Appleton, Wis.-based Fox Communities CU will absorb a Green Bay-based credit union.

The Florida-based bank has multiple facilities in Florida, along with lending offices in Massachusetts and Michigan

Despite the digitization of transactions, customers still need personal bankers. But financial institutions must adapt to specialize in problem-solving instead of sales.