Blue Ridge Bankshares in Va. to sell mortgage operations

Blue Ridge Bankshares in Charlottesville, Va., will sell certain assets of its Monarch Mortgage division to an unnamed buyer.

The company said in a press release that the deal should close by the end of this month; the pricing wasn’t disclosed.

The decision “was an additional step in our strategy to refocus our efforts on community banking in our primary geographical footprint,” G. William Beale, Blue Ridge’s president and CEO, said in the release.

“In the current interest rate environment, this line of business required additional investment to reach the scale needed to be a meaningful contributor to our profitability, which is not our near-term focus,” Beale added. “I am pleased that the Monarch Mortgage team has a wonderful opportunity with the acquiring company. I wish them a smooth transition and much success.”

Blue Ridge, which is operating under a consent order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, raised $150 million about a year ago. The company also decided last year to shut down its Banking-as-a-Service platform.