Another buy for First Citizens

First Citizens Bank is expanding in South Florida by shopping a unsuccessful lender, in an additional understanding brokered by sovereign promissory note regulators.

Raleigh-based First Citizens voiced late Friday that it will buy Sun American Bank, a Boca Raton, Fla., lender with twelve branches. Its First Citizens" fourth understanding during the past eight months orchestrated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

First Citizens is utilizing the monetary fortitude to enhance during the mercantile downturn, generally in regions strike tough by rising stagnation and acrobatics real-estate prices. The bank formerly acquired banks in Los Angeles, the Puget Sound segment of Washington state and southern California.

The Holding family that runs First Citizens is "doing a preference for taxpayers by receiving over unsuccessful banks" so that the supervision doesnt have to close them down, pronounced Tony Plath, a promissory note highbrow at UNC-Charlotte.

"But theres no altruism here," he added. "They"re creation a lot of income on these deals. They"ll keep you do these deals as prolonged as the supervision keeps handing them tasteful properties."

Any waste on $433 million of Sun Americans resources will be common by First Citizens and the FDIC, that reduces First Citizens" monetary risk. The FDIC estimated that the understanding will cost the sovereign deposition word account $103.8 million.

The Sun American branches in Miami, Delray Beach and alternative Florida cities will free Monday underneath the First Citizens name. Sun American had resources of $535.7 million.

"South Florida is a great marketplace for the company, generally with the concentration on individuals, small to mid-sized businesses and the healing community," pronounced First Citizens CEO Frank B. Holding Jr., in a rebuilt statement. "We see brazen to a well-spoken transition."

There is a little risk in cobbling together unsuccessful banks in new markets and mixing the pieces underneath a new code name, Plath said. "The Holdings are great at this," he added. "These are swain deals for First Citizens shareholders."

On Friday, the FDIC additionally seized banks in Illinois and Maryland, boosting the sum to twenty-five unsuccessful banks in the U.S. this year, after 140 unsuccessful in 2009. The group typically seizes banks late on Fridays, so that officials can outlay the week end converting the branches with minimal intrusion for customers.

The series of bank failures is approaching to go on rising. The FDIC expects the cost of solution unsuccessful banks to enlarge to about $100 billion over the subsequent 4 years.

400 branches, seventeen states

First Citizens has some-more than 400 branches in seventeen states underneath the First Citizens and IronStone names. The companys net income in 2009 rose to $115.6 million, up from $91.1 million a year earlier.

As of Dec. 31, First Citizens had $18.5 billion in assets. The companys shares have some-more than doubled in the past year, and rose $4.81 to close at $185.40 Friday.

alan.wolf or 919-829-4572