Park National in Newark, Ohio, has agreed to buy First Citizens Bancshares in Dyersburg, Tenn. The $9.9 billion-asset Park said in a press release that it will pay $317.3 million in stock for the $2.6 billion-asset First Citizens. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, priced First Citizens at 168% of its tangible book value. The deal, Park's first in seven years, will serve as its

Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio, is already back in the M&A game, agreeing to buy Cadence Bank in Tupelo, Miss. The $210 billion-asset Huntington, which just closed its purchase of Veritex Holdings in Dallas, said in a press release that it will pay $7.4 billion in stock for the $53 billion-asset Cadence. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, priced Cadence at 170% of its tangible

Merchants & Marine Bancorp in Pascagoula, Miss., has agreed to buy Farmers-Merchants Bank & Trust in Breaux Bridge, La. Merchants & Marine said in a press release that it will pay cash for the $450 million-asset FM Bank in a deal expected to close in the second quarter. The price wasn't disclosed. Fred Mills, FM Bank’s president and CEO, will remain in his leadership role, while the bank will keep

Crypto.com is the latest digital assets company to apply for a national trust bank charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Crypto.com said in a press release that it is pursuing the charter to advance its custody technology and related customer offerings, including custody and staking of assets across blockchains and digital asset protocols. “Building the Crypto.com product and service portfolio through regulated and secure offerings has

Evolve Bank & Trust in West Memphis, Ark., fired CEO Bob Hartheimer after he was arrested on two child pornography-related charges. The bank said in a statement that Mark Mosteller, its president and chief financial officer, and Joelle Weltzin, its general counsel, will oversee operations and strategic direction. They had those roles before Hartheimer was hired in August. "We remain confident in the strength of our leadership, the stability of

Paulson Capital Holding in Portland, Ore., bought JWTT, an investment bank and broker-dealer that specializes in the community banking sector. JWTT has more than $470 million in customer assets. The price wasn't disclosed. "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of JWTT ... and look forward to committing resources to building on the expertise of its principals to expand JWTT's already significant impact in the community banking space," Trent Davis,

A trio of banking companies disclosed securities sales. Avidbank Holdings in San Jose, Calif., said that a securities sale contributed to its $37.7 million third-quarter loss. The $2.4 billion-asset company sold $274.7 million of securities at a $62.4 million loss. The company purchased $163.2 million in higher-yielding securities and paid off short-term borrowings using proceeds from its initial public offering and securities sales. CB Financial Services in Washington, Pa., lost $5.7 million in

Metropolitan Bank Holding in New York reported lower quarterly profit that reflected costs tied to an out-of-market commercial real estate loan. The $8.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that its third-quarter profit fell by 42% from a year earlier, to $7.1 million. The quarter included a $23.9 million loan-loss provision that included $18.7 million for the CRE multifamily loan relationship. The CRE relationship was the reason why the