Bank of the Ozarks buys Bank of the Carolinas in $64.7 million deal

Bank of the Ozarks and Bank of the Carolinas Corp. announced that the two banks would merge. Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks will acquire the Carolina financial institution for $64.7 million in an all-stock transaction.

Bank of the Carolinas operates eight offices in North Carolina between Charlotte and Winston-Salem. At March 31, 2015, the Carolina group had approximately $363 million of total assets, $279 million of loans and $314 million of deposits.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Bank of the Carolinas, expanding our presence in the northern portion of the Charlotte MSA and providing our initial offices in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina,” said George Gleason, Chairman and CEO of Bank of the Ozarks.

“We opened our first North Carolina office in Charlotte in 2001, and subsequently added North Carolina locations through the acquisitions of Woodlands Bank in 2010 and First National Bank of Shelby in 2013 and through de novo branches,” Gleason added. “This acquisition adds eight North Carolina offices, bringing our North Carolina office count to 24. Customers of Bank of the Carolinas will continue to enjoy friendly hometown banking in addition to benefitting from a broader range of financial services.”

Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, each holder of outstanding shares of common stock of Bank of the Carolinas will receive shares of common stock of Bank of the Ozarks. The number of shares to be issued will be determined based on Bank of the Ozark’s 10 day average closing stock price as of the second business day prior to the closing date, subject to a minimum and maximum price of $29.28 and $48.80, respectively.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015, and will be Bank of the Ozarks’ 13th acquisition since March 2010.