First Bancorp to Buy First Carolina Bancshares in $166 Million Deal
The mixed cash-and-stock deal pushes First Bancorp's First Bank into the top 10 for deposit share in both Carolinas, betting on a target it says shares its relationship-banking playbook.
First Bancorp (FBNC) agreed to acquire First Carolina Bancshares Corporation, the holding company for Carolina Bank, in a mixed cash-and-stock transaction valued at $166 million. The deal extends First Bank's reach deeper into South Carolina, a market First Bancorp has been building out for years through both organic branching and acquisitions.
The agreement is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or early in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary conditions including approval from First Carolina's shareholders and from banking regulators. On a pro forma basis, First Bank is expected to rank in the top 10 for deposit market share in both North Carolina and South Carolina, a scale threshold that has become a common marker of competitive relevance in a wave of regional bank consolidation.
"Carolina Bank has deep roots in the communities it serves and a strong reputation for relationship-based banking," said Adam Currie, President and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank. "Their approach to serving customers aligns closely with our own, and we look forward to building on that foundation together. Carolina Bank's model of local decision-making, with lending and service supported by bankers who live and work in their communities, reflects the same principles that have guided First Bank's growth across the Carolinas".
That emphasis on cultural fit over pure balance-sheet arithmetic has become the standard pitch in bank M&A this cycle. First Community Corporation struck a similar tone in July 2025 when it described its acquisition of Signature Bank of Georgia as built on "immediate mutual recognition of cultural alignment," a deal that likewise extended a South Carolina-based lender's franchise into an adjacent growth market. First Hawaiian's July 2026 agreement to acquire TriCo Bancshares carried the same language, framing the combination as joining "culturally aligned, relationship-driven banking franchises". First Bancorp's approach to First Carolina fits that pattern: acquirers are increasingly selling consolidation to their own customers and employees as continuity rather than disruption.
The strategic logic for First Bancorp rests on filling out a state where it has been a steady consolidator rather than entering fresh territory. Deepening South Carolina deposit share alongside an already-established North Carolina base gives the combined bank more density to spread technology and compliance costs across, a rationale that has underpinned much of the sub-$1 billion bank M&A activity in the Southeast over the past two years.
The transaction still needs sign-off from First Carolina shareholders and bank regulators before it can close, and First Bancorp has not disclosed expected cost savings or accretion figures tied to the deal. Until then, the pro forma top-10 deposit ranking in both states stands as the clearest early marker of what the combination is meant to deliver.