The First Bancshares, the holding company for The First Bank, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Beach Bancorp, the parent company of Beach Bank. The proposed transactions will deepen The First Bank’s presence in the Florida panhandle, while also providing an entry into the Tampa, FL, market. Upon the completion of the acquisition, Beach Bank will merge with and into The First Bank.
Beach Bank operates seven branches across the Florida panhandle and Tampa, FL, markets with deposits of approximately $492 million and loans of $456 million as of March 31, 2022.
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Beach Bank and continuing to grow our presence in Florida,” M. Ray Cole Jr., president and CEO of The First Bancshares, said. “In addition to strengthening our northwest Florida markets, Beach will add the Tampa metro and central Florida area to our footprint. Both the Florida panhandle and Tampa area offer significant growth opportunities for our bank.
“Beach has a team of high performing, experienced commercial bankers who will be joining our team. [Charles] Reeves will join our executive leadership team with responsibilities for mortgage banking, specialty lending platforms and our central Florida region. Henry Gonzalez, currently Beach’s Tampa market president, will join our team as regional president – Tampa. Chip Falk, SVP- senior lender for Beach Bank will join our team as SVP – specialty lines including government lending and our derivatives business. In addition, Tampa-based Corey McLaughlin will lead our healthcare practice lending division. Peter Dyson, SVP, NW Florida and Pam Woodall, SVP, mortgage, will join our team in the Florida panhandle.
“Our companies share a common vision of building a high performing Southeast community bank franchise. This combination serves to accelerate that common vision. We look forward to welcoming the Beach team, their clients and stakeholders to our organization.”
“We are incredibly excited to be joining forces with The First. We share similar cultures that focus on our team members, clients and communities within a growth and performance mindset. The combination greatly accelerates Beach Bank’s strategic priorities of NW FL community bank leadership and Tampa/central Florida expansion. Our team is fully committed to this merger and we cannot wait to get started,” Charles N. Reeves, CEO of Beach Bank, said.
The transaction is expected to close in Q3/22 or Q4/22 following receipt of approvals from regulatory authorities, the approval of Beach Bancorp’s shareholders and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
