Shareholders approve Blue Ridge, Bay Banks merger

Combined bank would have $1.9B in deposits

Published January 21, 2021 by Sydney Lake

Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc., the parent holding company of Blue Ridge Bank, announced Thursday its shareholders approved the proposed merger with Richmond-based Bay Banks of Virginia Inc., the parent holding company of Virginia Commonwealth Bank.

The transaction would create a bank with a pro forma total market capitalization of nearly $200 million, according to the bank’s initial announcement about the merger in August 2020.

The combined bank would have approximately $2.8 billion in assets, $2.1 billion in loans and $1.9 billion in deposits, based on 2020 data. This would rank the bank No. 4 in the state for community bank deposit market share for institutions under $10 billion in assets, according to the bank’s August 2020 announcement.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bay Banks shareholders will receive 0.5 shares of Blue Ride common stock for each share of Bay Banks common stock they own. Bay Bank shareholders will own approximately 54% while Blue Ridge shareholders will own approximately 46% of the combined company once the transaction is complete.

The bank will operate under the Blue Ridge name and trade under BRBS on the NYSE American stock exchange. The holding company will be based in Charlottesville and the subsidiary bank will be headquartered in Richmond.