FITZGERALD – Colony Bankcorp, Inc., the holding company for Colony Bank and a Georgia state-chartered bank, announced on Dec. 18 the signing of an Agreement and Plan of Merger with LBC Bancshares, Inc., parent company of Calumet Bank, under which Colony has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the common stock of LBC in a combined stock-and-cash transaction valued at approximately $34.1 million.

LBC, headquartered in LaGrange, is the parent company for Calumet Bank, which has two branches — one each in LaGrange and Columbus — as well as a loan production office in Atlanta. As of Sept. 30, 2018, LBC had approximately $228 million in assets, $130 million in loans, $204 million in deposits and $19 million in tangible common equity. 

Upon completion of the transaction, Colony is expected to have approximately $1.4 billion in assets, $930 million in loans, and $1.2 billion in deposits. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to Colony’s fully diluted earnings per share, excluding transaction costs.

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of LBC and Calumet Bank,” President and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Heath Fountain said. “This acquisition will allow Colony to accelerate its growth by increasing our footprint to include the attractive Western Georgia markets of LaGrange and Columbus and additionally providing us access to the Atlanta market via Calumet’s loan production office there. Considering Calumet’s market strength and reputation, as well as the lack of overlap between our markets, we believe significant opportunities exist for continued growth in LaGrange, Columbus and Atlanta.”

Under the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, each LBC shareholder will have the option to receive either $23.50 in cash or 1.3239 shares of Colony’s common stock in exchange for each share of LBC common stock, subject to customary proration and allocation procedures, such that 55 percent of LBC shares will receive the stock consideration and 45 percent will receive the cash consideration, and at least 50 percent of the merger consideration will be paid in Colony stock. 

The Agreement and Plan of Merger has been approved by the Boards of Directors of Colony and LBC. 

The closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2019, is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approval and approval by the shareholders of LBC.

“As our company considered its growth path and strategic alternatives, our Board was quickly impressed by Colony and its team,” said Calumet President and Chief Executive Officer Leonard Bateman, Jr. “Colony will provide greater capital resources and operational scale that will allow us to grow as part of a larger community bank that shares our views about, and commitment to, the customers and communities we serve.”