Midwest Community Bancshares in Marion, Ill., has agreed to buy Carbondale Investment in Carbondale, Ill. Midwest, the parent of the $781 million-asset First Southern Bank, said in a press release that it plans to buy the holding company for the $282 million-asset Bank of Carbondale in the second quarter.The price was not disclosed. Bank of Carbondale has $134 million of loans and $241 million of deposits.“Bank of Carbondale and the Bleyer family

The Louisiana Bankers Association has a new CEO. The association said in a press release that its board had elected Ginger Laurent as its leader, effective Jan. 1. She succeeded Bob Taylor, who retired on Dec. 31 after serving as the association’s CEO since 2007. Laurent has been with the association for 22 years, including 14 years as its chief operating officer. Before that, she was a banker in the Acadiana

A newly formed company is looking to buy a bank in Dade City, Fla. Aiden Florida Bancshares in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., has agreed to buy a 65% to 80% stake in Florida Bancshares, the parent company of First National Bank of Pasco, according to a notice from Hovde Group. Hovde, which represented the $276 million-asset First National Bank of Pasco, did not disclose the price of the all-cash transaction.Aiden Florida filed

Locality Bank, a de novo planned in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is set to debut on Wednesday.The proposed bank’s digital application will launch on that day, based on a press release announcing that organizers had surpassed the fund-raising goal set by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as part of the agency’s conditional approval. Locality raised $35 million; it was required in November to bring in a minimum of $23 million. Members of

Civista Bancshares in Sandusky, Ohio, has agreed to buy Comunibanc in Napoleon, Ohio. The $3 billion-asset Civista said in a press release Monday that it will pay $50.2 million in cash and stock for the $329 million-asset parent of Henry County Bank. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, priced Communibanc at 152% of its tangible book value.Comunibanc has seven branches, $276 million of low-cost core deposits

Republic Bancorp in Louisville, Ky., wants Green Dot to pay a $5 million termination fee tied to the termination of asset sale. The $6.2 billion-asset Republic agreed in May to sell its tax refund solutions business to Green Dot. Green Dot first delayed the closing in August, then terminated it in October after failing to secure an approval or non-objection from the Federal Reserve. The Delaware Court of Chancery on Dec. 2

First Guaranty Bancshares in Hammond, La., has hired 13 bankers for its push into Kentucky and West Virginia. The $2.8 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it hired Mike Mineer, a former president and CEO of Citizens Deposit Bank and Trust, to serve as its Mideast Market President. The hirings included five bankers in Kentucky and seven in West Virginia. “We are a true community bank; we lend to people,

The group behind a large fintech fund has completed a separate effort to invest in blockchain projects.JAM Special Opportunity Ventures, an affiliate of Jacobs Asset Management, and FINTOP Capital said in a press release Monday that their JAM FINTOP Blockchain fund had raised about $110 million. The fund has more commitments that scale up to $30 million as its nears a $200 million cap.  The fund will initially focus on