BusinessTuesday, November 3
M&F Bank shareholders are set to vote Wednesday on merging with Optus
The 5AM Durham team
If you bank at M&F, or care about Durham's Black Wall Street story, this one's for you. M&F shareholders are scheduled to vote Wed., Nov. 4 on a roughly $105 million merger with Optus Bank of South Carolina. CEO Jim Sills calls the deal “a sign of strength.”
The Optus deal would create the nation's largest Black-owned bank
- $105 million
- roughly, for the Optus deal
- $1.3 billion
- in assets for the combined bank
- 10
- branches across North Carolina and South Carolina
- 1907
- year M&F was founded in Durham's Hayti district
Source: The News & Observer
It isn't a done deal. Greensboro's Triad Business Bank has made four offers since August, the latest on Oct. 8 at $53.50 in cash per share. M&F's board told shareholders Oct. 19 that Triad's offer is “not a superior proposal to the Optus merger.” Triad's plan calls for preserving M&F's name, charter and minority depository status.
- Name: M&F keeps it for two years after closing
- Lending limit: $11 million now, up to $20 million combined
- Layoffs: expected on both sides; number not shared
- Approval: federal regulators; closing expected by year's end
M&F's shareholder vote follows a months-long bidding fight
- JulyOptus agrees to pay $105 million in cash for M&F.
- Oct. 8Triad submits its fourth offer: $53.50 in cash per M&F share.
- Oct. 19M&F's board tells shareholders Triad's offer is not a superior proposal.
- Nov. 4M&F shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Optus deal.
Sources: Banking Dive, American Banker
Sources: The News & Observer, Banking Dive, American Banker