BayFirst Financial in St. Petersburg, Fla., plans to get out of Small Business Administration lending. The $1.3 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will sell about $103 million of SBA 7(a) loan balances to the $5.2 billion-asset Banesco USA. The loans will be sold at 97% of their retained balances; Banesco USA will assume servicing. Banesco USA will also buy, at book value, the servicing rights tied

Stearns Bank in St. Cloud, Minn., has agreed to buy One American Bank in Centreville, S.D. The deal was announced on LinkedIn by Performance Trust Capital Partners, which represented Stears Financial Services. The price wasn't disclosed. Stearns has $3.5 billion of assets, while One American has $385.1 million of assets.

Heritage Financial in Olympia, Wash., has agreed to buy Olympic Bancorp in Port Orchard, Wash. The $7.1 billion-asset Heritage said in a press release that it will pay $176.6 million in stock for the parent of the $1.7 billion-asset Kitsap Bank. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. Kitsap has 17 branches, $942 million of loans and $1.4 billion of deposits. The deal should be 18% accretive

Fiserv in Milwaukee bought Smith Consulting Group. Fiserv did not disclose what it paid for SCG, an operational consulting service for small banks and credit unions. “This acquisition enhances our ability to deliver strategic value to our customers by embedding deeper expertise directly into our service model," Andrew Gelb, Fiserv's head of financial solutions, said in a press release. "By bringing more expertise in-house, we’re expanding our ability to advise

Organizers of a proposed de novo bank in New Jersey have received conditional approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The group behind the planned Liberty Bank of New Jersey in Short Hills must raise $40 million before opening, according to the FDIC's order. Organizers applied to the FDIC and the New Jersey Department of Banking on March 4. The proposed bank “intends to opportunistically and prudently expand into other

First Merchants in Muncie, Ind., has agreed to buy First Savings Financial Group in Jeffersonville, Ind. The $18.6 billion-asset First Merchants said in a press release that it will pay $241.3 million in stock for the $2.4 billion-asset First Savings. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, priced First Savings at 135% of its tangible book value. First Savings has 16 branches,  $1.9 billion of loans,

Copper State Credit Union in Phoenix entered into a sale-leaseback transaction for four of its branches. MountainSeed Real Estate said in a press release that it paid $17 million for the locations. Copper State entered into a 15-year lease agreement for the properties, with renewal options. “This strategic transaction unlocks capital that will fuel our investment in cutting-edge digital solutions and enhanced member services while maintaining our strong community presence,”

Capital One Financial in McLean, Va., plans to cut nearly 400 Discover jobs. Capital One said in a Sept. 15 WARN Notice that it plans to eliminate 382 positions over time. The first cuts, involving 366 positions, will take place on Nov. 17, and the last cuts will take place in early March. About 200 of the jobs are in Riverwoods, Ill. Eighteen people work remotely in Illinois, and 165