Carolina Alliance Bank and Forest Commercial Bank Announce Shareholder Approval of Merger
December 16 2013 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
Carolina Alliance Bank (“CAB”) (OTCBB:CRLN) (OTCQB:CRLN) and
Forest Commercial Bank (“FCB”) jointly announced today that the
previously announced merger under which FCB will merge with and
into CAB, has been approved by both banks' shareholders. Special
meetings of CAB shareholders and FCB shareholders were held on
December 16, 2013 and December 10, 2013, respectively. The merger
is expected to close in April of 2014, subject to receipt of
regulatory approvals.
“Both Carolina Alliance and Forest Commercial are committed to
serving the communities in which we operate through local bankers
making local decisions,” said John Poole, President and Chief
Executive Officer of CAB. “The core values both banks share will
guide our operation as we grow throughout the markets we serve.”
John Kimberly, President and Chief Executive Officer of FCB, noted,
“The merger of Carolina Alliance and Forest Commercial creates a
larger and stronger financial institution better able to compete in
today’s challenging environment, with a significantly higher
lending limit, expanded product offerings, and the ability to
generate efficiencies, which we believe in turn will increase
profitability.” Mr. Kimberly added, “Since there is no market
overlap and since we both are growing, we anticipate no loss of
personnel in either of the banks as a result of the merger.”
CAB began operations in January 2007 and is headquartered in
Spartanburg, South Carolina. CAB has received regulatory approval
to establish branch offices in Seneca and Anderson, South Carolina
and expects the Seneca branch to open for business in December 2013
and the Anderson branch to open in the first quarter of 2014. More
information about CAB can be found on its website at
www.carolinaalliancebank.com.
Forest Commercial Bank opened for business in March 2008, is
headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, and serves western
North Carolina from offices in Asheville and Hendersonville and a
loan production office in Charlotte. For more information, please
see FCB’s website at www.forestcommercialbank.com.
Note
Certain statements in this news release contain “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, such as statements relating to future plans and
expectations, and are thus prospective. Such forward-looking
statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors,
such as the businesses of Carolina Alliance Bank and Forest
Commercial Bank may not be integrated successfully or such
integration may take longer to accomplish than expected, the
expected cost savings and any revenue synergies from the merger may
not be fully realized within the expected timeframes, disruption
from the merger may make it more difficult to maintain
relationships with clients, associates, or suppliers, the required
governmental approvals of the merger may not be obtained on the
proposed terms and schedule, a continued downturn in the economy,
competitive pressures among depository and other financial
institutions, the rate of delinquencies and amounts of charge-offs,
the level of allowance for loan loss, the rates of loan growth, or
adverse changes in asset quality in our loan portfolio, and changes
in the U.S. legal and regulatory framework, including the effect of
recent financial reform legislation on the banking industry, any of
which could cause actual results to differ materially from future
results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements.
Although we believe that the assumptions underlying the
forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions
could prove to be inaccurate. Therefore, we can give no assurance
that the results contemplated in the forward-looking statements
will be realized. The inclusion of this forward-looking information
should not be construed as a representation by us or any person
that the future events, plans, or expectations contemplated by us
will be achieved. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking
statements concerning us or any person acting on our behalf is
expressly qualified in its entirety by the cautionary statements
above. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise, to reflect circumstances or events
that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are
made.
Carolina Alliance BankJohn S. Poole, 864-542-2615orForest
Commercial BankJohn D. Kimberly, 828-255-5711