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First Carolina Bank in N.C. to buy BM Technologies for $67 million

First Carolina Bank in Rocky Mount, N.C., has agreed to buy BM Technologies in Radnor, Pa.

The $3.2 billion-asset bank said in a press release that it will pay $67 million in cash for the fintech in a deal expected to close in the first quarter.

The sale is a reversal of fortune for BM Technologies, which agreed to buy First Sound Bank in Seattle in 2021 in a deal that was eventually terminated.

BM Technologies had already been transferring higher education deposits to First Carolina under an existing partnership.

BM Technologies will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Carolina. It will retain its name and be led by Jamie Donahue, its president and chief technology officer.

“We started having discussions in late 2022 with management at BMT and were immediately drawn to the added relationship possibilities for the bank through the company’s technology and market position,” Ron Day, First Carolina’s CEO, said in the release. “We believe this is a game-changing combination, and we are thrilled for the employee and shareholder bases … given BMT’s customer base.”

“This transaction not only delivers a significant premium to our stockholders but will also bring enhanced banking services and technology to all current BMTX customers as well as current and future FCB customers,” Luvleen Sidhu, BM Technologies’ chair and CEO, said in a separate press release.

White & Case and Janney Montgomery Scott advised BM Technologies. Wedbush Securities and Covington & Burling advised First Carolina.

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