The Federal Reserve on Friday approved the proposed $267 million acquisition of Peachtree Corners, Georgia-based Piedmont Bancorp by Charleston, West Virginia-based United Bankshares.
The Fed also gave its approval for Fairfax, Virginia-based United Bank, a subsidiary of the parent company, to merge with The Piedmont Bank and establish and operate branches at the locations of the main office and branches of The Piedmont Bank.
The proposal received the green light from the Fed less than seven months after the merger was announced in May.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2025, while the operational conversion will likely occur late in the first quarter of next year, United said in a statement Monday.
“We are pleased to have received regulatory approval from the Federal Reserve and state banking authorities for this merger, and we remain excited about expanding our footprint into the greater Atlanta area,” Richard M. Adams Jr., CEO of United Bankshares, said in a statement Monday. “We look forward to bringing these two strong companies together to deliver excellence in service to customers and communities across this thriving market.”
The Fed received one adverse comment on the proposal, alleging that United Bank made fewer home loans to Black borrowers compared with White ones in West Virginia and Virginia last year.
United defended its mortgage lending practices and highlighted that its denial rates for Black applicants are comparable to peer institutions. It also said its mortgage subsidiary operations consolidated into United Bank in early 2024.
Additionally, United Bank received an overall “satisfactory” rating at its most recent Community Reinvestment Act evaluation by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in October 2022, the approval order said.
The combined entity will become the 70th-largest insured depository organization in the U.S. with consolidated assets of about $32.1 billion, the Fed said. It would control total consolidated deposits of roughly $24.9 billion.
“Based on all the facts of record, the Board concludes that consummation of the proposal would not have a significantly adverse effect on competition, or on the concentration of resources, in any relevant banking market,” the Fed said in the approval order. “Accordingly, the Board determines that competitive considerations are consistent with approval.”
The proposed merger agreement had already received approval from both boards and approval from Piedmont stockholders, United said.
Piedmont Bank CEO Monty Watson will serve as regional president for Georgia operations at United upon the deal’s closure. Additionally, 14 key staff will be retained, according to a Raymond James research note.
