Peoples Bancorp in Marietta, Ohio, has agreed to buy Limestone Bancorp in Louisville, Ky. The $7 billion-asset Peoples said in a press release that it will pay $208.2 million in stock for the $1.5 billion-asset Limestone. The acquisition, nicknamed "Project Bourbon," is expected to close in the second quarter. The deal priced Limestone at 173% of its tangible book value. Limestone has 20 branches, $1.1 billion of loans and $1.2

GBank Financial Holdings in Las Vegas has rebranded its bank. The $667 million-asset company said in a press release that its Bank of George will be known as GBank. GBank Financial also debuted a new corporate brand and website. "More and more, our national markets and communities have associated our success with the shortened name of our holding company," T. Ryan Sullivan, the company’s president and CEO, said in the release.

Republic First Bancorp in Philadelphia has been unable to negotiate a truce with one of its biggest investors. The $5.7 billion-asset company said in a press release that it tried to hammer out a standstill agreement with a group that includes George Norcross and Gregory Braca. Republic First said the Norcross-Braca group wanted $3.5 million to cover various expenses, board seats and for Braca to become the company’s CEO. The

Sterling Bancorp in Southfield, Mich., which recently filed a lawsuit against its founder and former CEO, has hired a chief legal officer. The $2.5 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had added Elizabeth Keogh as part of a reorganization of its legal department. Keogh has been a self-employed legal consultant for the past 13 years, with Sterling among her clients. Prior to 2009, she was a corporate

RBB Bancorp in Los Angeles didn’t have to look too hard to find its permanent CEO.   The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that it has removed “interim” from David Morris’ title. Morris, who will remain RBB’s chief financial officer, will join the company’s board.   Morris will spearhead efforts to hire a president.   RBB said that Shalom Chang, who had been its controller, had become

Citizens Community Bancorp in Eau Claire, Wis., is thinning its branch network. The $1.8 billion-asset company said in a press release that it closed a branch in St. James, Minn., in September. Citizens plans to close two more branches – in Rice Lake, Wis., and Red Wing, Minn. – by the end of this year. The St. James branch had about $18.7 million of deposits. Citizens incurred about $302,000 of

MainStreet Bancshares in Fairfax, Va., expects its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) division to break even within two years of having a fully operational solution. The $1.9 billion-asset company was asked during its Oct. 17 earnings conference call to provide that estimate for its Avenu business. Management made good on a promise to look into the request and provide the information. Avenu has one BaaS client so far. It also has a Software-as-a-Service

Biller Genie, a Miami fintech that provides AR automation and has a B2B payments platform, will open an office in Orlando after raising $5 million in Series A funding.   The fintech said that the round was led by Henry Helgeson, who will join its board. Biller Genie plans to use the funding to continue expanding its products and distribution channels, automate onboarding and develop new tools that include APIs.