United Bankshares Buys Community Bankers Trust

United Bankshares, the parent company of United Bank, has entered into a merger agreement with Community Bankers Trust, the parent company of Essex Bank, the companies announced in a Thursday (June 3) press release.

Under the agreement, the combined organization will be worth around $29 billion. It will be the 38th largest banking company in the U.S. based on market capitalization.

“We are extremely pleased to partner with Community Bankers Trust,” said Richard M. Adams, chairman and CEO of United Bank. “This transaction enhances our existing presence in the DC Metro MSA and takes us into new markets including Baltimore, Annapolis, Lynchburg, Richmond, and the Northern Neck of Virginia. It also strategically connects our Mid-Atlantic and Southeast footprints.”

With the agreement, United will acquire 100 percent of the shares of Community.

The merger agreement has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

Community Bankers Trust President and CEO Rex L. Smith III said United Bank has “a steadfast and proven commitment to their customers and the communities” in which it operates.

“The merger will give us the ability to offer better and more sophisticated products and services while still maintaining the community bank approach to doing business with local leadership,” Smith said, according to the release. “This will be a great benefit to our customers, to our shareholders and to the communities of Central Virginia, the Northern Neck and Eastern Maryland.”

U.S. bank mergers and acquisitions had a good month in April, with 19 deals announced, the most since the start of the pandemic. That means there had been 53 announced as of that time in 2021. There were only 43 announced during the same period in 2020.

The total value of 2021 deals has hit $24.83 billion, an increase from $6.53 billion from the same time last year. And PYMNTS writes that April alone counted for around $13 billion of this year’s value.