TROY, N.C., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- First Bancorp , the parent company of First Bank, reports today that it has completed the purchase of the Bank of the Carolinas branch located in Carthage, North Carolina. The branch opened for business as a branch of First Bank on Tuesday, September 5, 2006. The agreement to purchase this branch was announced on April 26, 2006. First Bank now has eleven branches serving Moore County.
James H. Garner, President and CEO of First Bancorp, addressed the customers of the Carthage branch, "I'm delighted to welcome you to First Bank. Your records have been successfully converted, and we're very pleased to be your new bank. You'll be served by the same friendly staff that served you so well as employees of Bank of the Carolinas."
Jerry L. Ocheltree, President of First Bank, addressed his new fellow employees at the Carthage branch, "It has been a pleasure to get to know you over the past several months. I would like to thank you again for your hard work in ensuring a smooth transition. We have a bright future together in making First Bank the best community bank possible."
Mr. Garner continued, "I am very happy to be expanding our presence in Moore County. It is our largest market, and the citizens have been so good to us. We are pleased that First Bank now has a total of eleven locations throughout Moore County available for the convenience of our customers."
First Bancorp is a bank holding company based in Troy, North Carolina with total assets of approximately $2.0 billion. Its principal activity is the ownership and operation of First Bank, a state-chartered community bank that operates 64 branch offices, with 57 branches operating in a nineteen county market area in the central piedmont region of North Carolina, 3 branches in Dillon County, South Carolina, and 4 branches in Virginia (Abingdon, Dublin, Radford, and Wytheville), where First Bank does business as First Bank of Virginia. The Company also has loan production offices in Wilmington, North Carolina and Blacksburg, Virginia. First Bancorp's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol FBNC.
This press release contains statements that could be deemed forward- looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward- looking statements are statements that include projections, predictions, expectations or beliefs about future events or results or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. Such statements are often characterized by the use of qualifying words (and their derivatives) such as "expect," "believe," "estimate," "plan," "project," or other statements concerning opinions or judgments of the Company and its management about future events. Factors that could influence the accuracy of such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the financial success or changing strategies of the Company's customers, the Company's level of success in integrating acquisitions, actions of government regulators, the level of market interest rates, and general economic conditions. Additional discussion about the risk factors associated with the Company's business and the factors that could influence forward-looking statements is included in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K.
