Palmetto Heritage Bancshares and its subsidiary, Palmetto Heritage Bank & Trust, merged with and into First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company and First Citizens Bank.
The three Palmetto Heritage Bank branch offices will initially operate as Palmetto Heritage Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, with customers banking at their existing branches. Palmetto Heritage Bank customer accounts will then be converted to First Citizens Bank’s systems and new First Citizens signage will be installed at a later date.
Frank B. Holding, Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bank, said, “First Citizens and Palmetto Heritage are an excellent fit for one another and will be even better together as we strengthen our presence in coastal South Carolina. We look forward to serving Palmetto Heritage customers and leveraging our stability and robust product base so that, together, we can build on an already solid foundation.”
On October 29, the shareholders of Pawleys Island, S.C.-based Palmetto Heritage voted to approve the merger agreement with First Citizens. The merger was previously approved by the FDIC, the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks and the South Carolina Board of Financial Institutions.
The completed merger will complement First Citizens’ operations in coastal South Carolina. In addition to the three Palmetto Heritage Bank division locations in Pawleys Island, Mount Pleasant and Murrells Inlet, First Citizens operates 18 branches in Georgetown, Horry and Charleston counties and 135 branches throughout South Carolina.
Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., First Citizens Bank serves customers at more than 500 branches in 19 states and has $35 billion in assets.
