Parting can be such sweet severance

peoplesbankThe pending $40 million acquisition of a local bank will bring a payday for more than just the bank’s shareholders.

Bluefield-based First Community recently released details of the severance packages to Peoples Bank of Virginia’s top three executives as part of the buyout. First Community announced a plan to buy Peoples in March.

Peoples Bank CEO Jim Atkinson will receive a severance payout of $783,000. President Quentin Corbett will get $738,000. And CFO Vera Primm will get $423,000.

First Community CEO John Mendes said he expects the deal to close in late June or early July.

The Peoples executives won’t immediately bow out from the bank’s operations.

Primm will stay on in her position for three months after the closing to assist in the transition.

Corbett and Atkinson have signed consulting agreements with First Community to provide “support on employee and customer retention” for 36 months following the closing date.

Such agreements are typical for outgoing bank executives.

“They will be engaged for a period of three years in a development role,” Mendes said.

The details of the agreements were included in recent First Community SEC filings.

Eddie McCall, who will be head of First Community’s Richmond market once the deal closes, signed a new employment agreement that comes with a base salary of $168,000 and a two-year term.

The money and those agreements all become official once the deal closes.

A few hurdles remain, including a vote by the shareholders of Peoples Bank and approval from state and federal regulators.

Peoples Bank shareholders will vote on the deal at a special meeting May 24 at Meadowbrook Country Club in Richmond.

Mendes said he’s confident that the bank can clear those hurdles.

Once approved, those shareholders will receive $6.08 in cash and 1.07 shares of First Community common stock per share of Peoples Bank stock. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the deal.

First Community has been through this before.

The Peoples deal will be First Community’s fifth acquisition since 2003. Most recently it bought Tri-Stone Community Bank in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 2009 and Mooresville Savings Bank in Mooresville, N.C., in 2008.

The deal “is moving along at a good pace,” Mendes said.

Most of the remaining Peoples Bank employees will stay on following the deal, Mendes said. The bank had 37 full-time employees as of the end of 2011, according to FDIC records.

First Community will keep Peoples Bank’s commercial lending staff and its front-of-the-house employees, such as tellers.

“We’ll be keeping the largest portion of the staff,” he said. “There will be some redundancy in the backroom that will not be carried over.”

Those employees might be given a chance to take other jobs in the organization, he said.

Once closed, the Peoples Bank of Virginia name will disappear, and its four branches will be rebranded with the First Community flag.

Peoples Bank of Virginia was founded in Richmond in 2002. Today it has $285 million in assets.

First Community came to Richmond in 2003 by acquiring the former CommonWealth Bank. It has 55 branches in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, including five in Richmond.

The deal marks the first local bank deal of 2012 and the first since last summer, when Xenith Bank went on a buying spree for the local assets of Paragon Commercial Bank and the former Virginia Business Bank, which was shut down by regulators.

peoplesbankThe pending $40 million acquisition of a local bank will bring a payday for more than just the bank’s shareholders.

Bluefield-based First Community recently released details of the severance packages to Peoples Bank of Virginia’s top three executives as part of the buyout. First Community announced a plan to buy Peoples in March.

Peoples Bank CEO Jim Atkinson will receive a severance payout of $783,000. President Quentin Corbett will get $738,000. And CFO Vera Primm will get $423,000.

First Community CEO John Mendes said he expects the deal to close in late June or early July.

The Peoples executives won’t immediately bow out from the bank’s operations.

Primm will stay on in her position for three months after the closing to assist in the transition.

Corbett and Atkinson have signed consulting agreements with First Community to provide “support on employee and customer retention” for 36 months following the closing date.

Such agreements are typical for outgoing bank executives.

“They will be engaged for a period of three years in a development role,” Mendes said.

The details of the agreements were included in recent First Community SEC filings.

Eddie McCall, who will be head of First Community’s Richmond market once the deal closes, signed a new employment agreement that comes with a base salary of $168,000 and a two-year term.

The money and those agreements all become official once the deal closes.

A few hurdles remain, including a vote by the shareholders of Peoples Bank and approval from state and federal regulators.

Peoples Bank shareholders will vote on the deal at a special meeting May 24 at Meadowbrook Country Club in Richmond.

Mendes said he’s confident that the bank can clear those hurdles.

Once approved, those shareholders will receive $6.08 in cash and 1.07 shares of First Community common stock per share of Peoples Bank stock. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the deal.

First Community has been through this before.

The Peoples deal will be First Community’s fifth acquisition since 2003. Most recently it bought Tri-Stone Community Bank in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 2009 and Mooresville Savings Bank in Mooresville, N.C., in 2008.

The deal “is moving along at a good pace,” Mendes said.

Most of the remaining Peoples Bank employees will stay on following the deal, Mendes said. The bank had 37 full-time employees as of the end of 2011, according to FDIC records.

First Community will keep Peoples Bank’s commercial lending staff and its front-of-the-house employees, such as tellers.

“We’ll be keeping the largest portion of the staff,” he said. “There will be some redundancy in the backroom that will not be carried over.”

Those employees might be given a chance to take other jobs in the organization, he said.

Once closed, the Peoples Bank of Virginia name will disappear, and its four branches will be rebranded with the First Community flag.

Peoples Bank of Virginia was founded in Richmond in 2002. Today it has $285 million in assets.

First Community came to Richmond in 2003 by acquiring the former CommonWealth Bank. It has 55 branches in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, including five in Richmond.

The deal marks the first local bank deal of 2012 and the first since last summer, when Xenith Bank went on a buying spree for the local assets of Paragon Commercial Bank and the former Virginia Business Bank, which was shut down by regulators.

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