A group is looking to form a bank in Ft. Myers, Fla.Organizers of Gulf Coast Business Bank filed an application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Wednesday for deposit insurance.The group plans to raise $20 million in initial capital, according to the application.William Blevins is listed as the proposed bank's president, CEO and chief lending officer. Blevins was a commercial loan officer at Wachovia Bank and Wells Fargo from 1993

Community Savings Bancorp in Caldwell, Ohio, has agreed to be sold to an entity owned by former Pacific Union Financial CEO Evan Stone. Double Bottomline, which is owned by Stone, will pay $9.5 million for the $60 million-asset parent of Community Savings. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.Community Savings has applied to the Treasury Department to become a community development financial institution. The transaction is expected to

PDL Community Bancorp in New York expects to record a pretax gain of $4.2 million after completing a sale-leaseback transaction.The $1.4 billion-asset parent of Ponce Bank said in a press release Tuesday that it sold a property in Bronx, N.Y., for $5.7 million on June 4. The property had a net book value of $1.1 million on April 30. The bank entered into a 15- year lease agreement with an initial base

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to buy EnerBank USA, a home improvement lender based in Salt Lake City. The $153 billion-asset Regions said in a press release Tuesday that it will pay $960 million for the $3.1 billion-asset industrial loan company. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. EnerBank has served more than a million homeowners and 10,000 contractors through mobile, online and phone-based point-of-sale

The biggest shareholder at FB Financial in Nashville, Tenn., is selling a large block of stock. The $11.9 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that Jim Ayers, its founder and vice chairman, plans to sell 2.5 million shares in a secondary offering. The stock is worth roughly $104.4 million based on the company closing price the day of the filing. The stock represents about 5.3% of FB Financial’s

Independent Bank in Hanover, Mass., initially balked at making an offer for Meridian Bancorp in Peabody, Mass. The $13.8 billion-asset Independent, when first approached about a potential deal in January, passed, citing a need to focus on other priorities, according to a recent regulatory filing tied to the pending acquisition. But it only took senior management a few weeks to reconsider talking to the $6.5 billion-asset Meridian. The companies announced a $1.2 billion merger on April 22; the

HBT Financial in Bloomington, Ill., has agreed to buy NXT Bancorp. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The $3.9 billion-asset HBT said in a press release Monday that it will pay $42.8 million in cash and stock for the parent of the $241 million-asset NXT Bank. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, priced NXT at 134% of its tangible book value.NXT Bank has $198 million of loans and

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods has a new director of research. The New York investment bank, which is part of Stifel Financial, said in a press release Monday that it had promoted Matt Kelley. He succeeded Fred Cannon, who retired earlier this year.“With significant buy-side and sell-side equity research experience, Matt is eminently qualified for the position,” Thomas Michaud, KBW’s president and CEO, said in the release. “We are confident he will