Banking

Richmond’s biggest bank is about to get a lot bigger, with a deal that will create a $39 billion regional behemoth that spans the coveted “Golden Crescent.”

The two moves come less than a year into the tenure of CEO Will Groves, who took the helm at New Horizon at the beginning of 2024.

It would be the $29 billion bank’s first new local branch since it entered the region in 2021 with the acquisition of Henrico-based Essex Bank.

The deal brings First Bank to $2.1 billion in total assets and includes Touchstone’s seven local branches and $338 million in local deposits.

Nearly a decade after he invested $8 million to help get Village out of trouble, seasoned bank investor Ken Lehman is due an eight-figure windfall.

“Particularly in Chesterfield and Hanover counties, this will kind of complete our branching network,” said Towne’s Executive Chairman Bob Aston. “Chesterfield and Hanover are growing like crazy.”

TowneBank is grabbing a bigger piece of the Richmond market. The $17 billion Hampton Roads-based bank announced this morning a deal to acquire Midlothian-based competitor Village Bank. The move would give Towne an extra nine branches in the Richmond region to go along with its nine existing local locations, as well as taking on Village’s… Read more »

The trio, which for years have dominated the annual rankings, reported a combined drop in their local deposits of $1.45 billion as of June 30, compared to the same period last year.

The bank will have 39 branches remaining in the Richmond metro area after the Nov. 6 closure. That’s down from 45 a year ago and 56 five years ago.

“It is drastically out of character for you and there’s no question about that,” Judge Robert Payne said of James Stevens. “I think the record is clear that you are a good man that went astray.”