Capital Bank Financial to buy Winston-Salem-based bank

A bank holding company led by two former Bank of America Corp. executives announced today it is acquiring a Winston-Salem bank in its seventh deal since 2010.

Capital Bank Financial Corp. agreed to buy Southern Community Financial Corp., the parent company of Southern Community Bank and Trust, for about $2.88 per share. SCMF has $1.5 billion in assets and 22 branches in Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad and other N.C. markets. The company's shares were trading at $2.65 this afternoon, up from $1.96 at the close Monday.

The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter, Capital said in a news release today. After that, the company will have $8.1 billion in assets and 165 branches in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia and Florida.

Southern Community, founded in 1996, controls the third-largest share of deposits in the Winston-Salem metro area. Chief executive F. Scott Bauer said Southern Community turned around its financial performance in 2011 but added that the merger "will make us stronger and more competitive, and that is rewarding for the many people who have been there for us during the good and the challenging times."

Former BofA executives Gene Taylor and Chris Marshall formed Capital - formerly North American Financial Holdings Inc. - in 2009 to buy troubled banks. In June, the company filed paperwork that could lead to an initial public offering that raises as much as $300 million.