Bancorp 34 in Scottsdale, Ariz., has raised $14 million through a private placement of common and preferred stock. The $572 million-asset company said in a press release that the private placement was led by Castle Creek Capital. The company sold about 511,000 shares of common stock and roughly 522,000 shares of non-voting preferred stock. The shares were accompanied by about 100,000 warrants to buy more shares at $14 each. The

First of Long Island in Melville, N.Y., plans to appoint a well-known activist investor to its board. The $4.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will nominate J. Abbott R. Cooper from Driver Management to stand for election at its upcoming annual meeting. The appointment, which would keep Cooper on the board until 2027, is part of a broader cooperation agreement between the company and Cooper. As

Nuvei, a payment technology firm in Montreal, has agreed to buy Paya Holdings, an integrated payments platform based in Atlanta. Nuvei will buy Paya from GTCR, a private equity firm, in an all-cash transaction with a total enterprise value of about $1.3 billion. Paya serves clients in the B2B, government, utilities, nonprofit and health care markets. The company processes more than $45 billion of annual payment volume. GTCR bought Paya in 2017. Paya

Legacy Bank and Trust in Mountain Grove, Mo., has formed a mortgage unit. Legacy Capital Mortgage is “a HUD-approved multifamily accelerated processing lender,” according to its LinkedIn page. Brett Magers, the $1.1 billion-asset bank’s CEO, also updated his LinkedIn profile to list himself as the unit’s CEO. “We are excited about our new endeavor to more fully serve our development clients across the country,” Magers wrote.

Western Alliance Bancorp. in Phoenix plans to open a technology hub in Westerville, Ohio. The $69 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will invest $2.2 million to create 150 jobs for the hub. Western Alliance plans to hire engineers, data analysts, developers, finance specialists and network operators. “The robust talent pipeline, concentration of finance and technology companies and competitive business environment in the Columbus region is the

Metropolitan Bank Holding in New York plans to fully exit the crypto-asset business. The $6.4 billion-asset company said in a press release that the decision “follows a careful review” and reflect recent developments in the crypto space and “material changes” in the regulatory environment regarding banks’ involvement in the business. Metropolitan said it has four active institutional crypto-asset related clients that account for about 1.5% of total revenues and 6%

First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has agreed to buy Lone Star Bank in Houston. The $3.1 billion-asset First Guaranty said in a press release that it will pay $78.7 million in stock for the $151 million-asset Lone Star. The deal priced Lone Star at 150% of its tangible book value. “First Guaranty Bank’s philosophy and goal is to have a strong presence in the communities we serve and to

Mark Vitner, retired chief economist for Wells Fargo, has created his own business. Vitner announced on his LinkedIn page that he had formed Piedmont Crescent Capital, an independent economic consulting firm. Piedmont Crescent aims to provide economic analysis to businesses, state and local governments, and industry trade groups. Vitner, a mainstay at conferences and academic gatherings, retired last year as a managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo. He