Truist Financial in Charlotte, N.C., has agreed to buy Service Finance, a Boca Raton, Fla., company that makes point-of-sale loans for home-improvement projects.The $522 billion-asset Truist said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $2 billion to Canadian-based ECN Capital for Service Finance. The deal is expected to close later this year.Service Finance uses proprietary technology to deliver payment solutions to more than 14,000 home-improvement dealers and contractors.

National Bank Holdings in Denver has invested in a blockchain fintech firm as part of a broader effort to build a comprehensive digital platform. The $7.1 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that it will work with Figure Technologies on a variety of blockchain-related initiatives. National Bank did not disclose the size of the investment or any specific initiatives.National Bank said it is also finalizing an investment in Finastro

Simmons First National in Little Rock, Ark., has created an equipment finance division after hiring 11 commercial bankers.The $23.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday that Lee Palm will serve as president of the new division. Palm previously served as president of commercial finance at TCF Financial.Brian Shapiro, another former TCF banker, will serve as managing director in charge of Simmons’ transportation and marine business. TCF was sold

Valley National Bancorp in New York had to raise its offer to strike a deal for Westchester Bank Holding in White Plains, N.Y. The $41.3 billion-asset Valley was the largest of seven bidders for the $1.3 billion-asset Westchester, according to a regulatory filing tied to the pending $210 million acquisition. Valley was coaxed to boost its offer by 6.5%, to $3,300 a share, to gain an exclusivity agreement. First, the details of

Orange County Bancorp in Middletown, N.Y., raised $35.2 in net proceeds from its initial public offering.The $1.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it sold nearly 1.2 million shares of common stock at $33.50 a share. About 150,000 shares were sold as part of the underwriters’ overallotment option.The company said in a prospectus that net proceeds could be used to support growth in areas such as lending

First Financial in Terre Haute, Ind., has agreed to buy Hancock Bancorp in Hawesville, Ky.The $4.8 billion-asset First Financial said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $31.4 million in cash for the $334 million-asset parent of Hancock Bank & Trust. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.First Financial, which is expanding into western Kentucky, said it expects the deal to be about 7% accretive

First BanCorp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, sold $52.5 million of nonperforming mortgages. The $21.4 billion-asset company disclosed in a quarterly regulatory filing that it received an unsolicited offer to buy the loans, along with $2 million of related servicing rights. First BanCorp said it received $31.5 million, or 58% of book value before reserves, for the loans and servicing rights. About $20.9 million of reserves are already applied to the

It only took Columbia Banking System in Tacoma, Wash., three months to hammer out its first bank acquisition in more than three years. The $17.3 billion-asset company agreed in June to buy the $1.8 billion-asset Bank of Commerce Holdings in Sacramento, Calif., for $266 million. The acquisition will provide Columbia with its first branches in California. Before we dive into the background of the deal, here is an overview of the pending