Today in BiS magazine
• These days, Keith Gay is the managing partner of a Tybee Island vacation rental and property management company along with being an associate real estate broker. Along the way, he’s been a disc jockey, a new car dealer, a credit bureau operator and a Republican Party activist.
• Frank and Judy Ouzts have run PaPa’s Bar-B-Que & Seafood for more than 20 years and have been in the restaurant business for 42 years. They do barbecue and chicken, Lowcountry boil, whole pigs and anything you ask them to do.
• Accountant Anna Davis reminds us tax rates have continued to rise recently and says mid-year is a good time to review your federal and state withholding rates on wages, retirement and other types of income to ensure you have sufficient withholding.
• Despite popular perception, high-hazard businesses such as industrial sites and manufacturing facilities are not the only commercial properties that face environmental risks. says attorney Nicholas Laybourn.
• Paid leaders and board members of nonprofits should be aware of certain critical principles before they outsource any fundraising efforts, says Sarah Todd, and those who don’t clearly understand their fiduciary responsibilities are still responsible for missteps.
Merger to create nation’s largest family controlled bank
First Citizens BancShares, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCNCA) and First Citizens Bancorporation have announced they expect to close on a merger of the two financial firms in the fourth quarter of this year.
The agreement provides for the merger of Columbia, S.C.-based First Citizens Bancorporation and its banking subsidiary, First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, Inc., into Raleigh, N.C.-based First Citizens BancShares, Inc. and its banking subsidiary, First Citizens Bank. Frank B. Holding Jr., chairman and CEO of First Citizens BancShares and First Citizens Bank, is expected to lead the combined company.
Jim Apple, chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bancorporation and First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, Inc., plans to retire this fall when the transaction is completed.
The combined company’s leadership team and board of directors will be comprised of members from both organizations. They will be announced at later dates.
The combined company would have total assets of $30.7 billion, deposits of $26.1 billion, loans of $18.0 billion, and more than 575 branches in 18 states and the District of Columbia, including Savannah and Bluffton and Hilton Head, S.C.
The merger will create the largest family-controlled bank in the U.S. and the sixth largest bank headquartered in the Southeast by asset size.