Black-owned Carolinas bank merger largest in US history

M&F BANCORP INC.

Durham-based M&F Bancorp Inc. and Columbia, South Carolina-based Optus Financial Corporation announced a merger that creates the nation's largest Black-owned financial institution with more than $1.27 billion in total assets. M&F Bancorp, which operates eight M&F Bank branches, including one in Charlotte, will transition their branding to Optus in two years.

The Carolinas’ two largest Black-owned community banks are merging.

Columbia, South Carolina-based Optus Financial Corporation and Durham-based M&F Bancorp Inc. have announced a merger agreement under the Optus Bank banner that makes the company the nation’s largest Black-owned financial services institution with $1.27 billion in total assets as of March 31. Under terms of the deal, which is expected to exceed $105 million, Mechanics & Farmers’ eight branches will operate under its current name for two years before transitioning to Optus. M&F’s Charlotte branch is on Beatties Ford Road in Historic West End.

“Shareholders, directors, and employees of both institutions can take pride in this partnership, which honors and advances our shared mission and legacy,” M&F chairman James Stewart said in a statement. “The combined organization will allow us to serve more communities and operate with greater scale and effectiveness.”

MFBP shareholders earn an expected $53.30 per common stock in cash, including $46.57 per share payable at closing and $6.73 per share contingent upon the repurchase of outstanding shares of M&F preferred stock prior to or within 12 months following closing. The deal is expected to close by year’s end.

“M&F Bank was founded on the belief that every community deserves a financial institution that understands and serves its unique needs,” M&F president and CEO James Sills III said. “That principle has guided us for more than a century and led us to this partnership with Optus. We share a common mission, aligned values, and a steadfast commitment to our customers and communities.”

Sills will continue the CEO role with the combined company, while Optimus chairman Paul Mitchell, keeps that role. 

“This partnership with M&F Bank represents a defining moment — not only for our organizations, but for mission-driven banking in America. M&F Bank has a proud legacy of supporting entrepreneurship, fostering generational wealth, and expanding access to capital in underserved communities,” Mitchell said. “Together, we will create a stronger institution with greater scale, enhanced capabilities, and an expanded capacity to advance economic mobility throughout the Carolinas and beyond.”

Both banks have longstanding corporate roots. M&F, founded in 1907, was a mainstay of Durham’s Black Wall Street and eventually opened branches in North Carolina’s largest cities during a time when white-controlled financial institutions didn’t invest in Black communities. Optus, founded in 1921 as Victory Savings Bank, is one of the nation’s leading minority depository institutions and a certified community development financial institution. 

“Shareholders, directors, and employees of both institutions can take pride in this partnership, which honors and advances our shared mission and legacy,” M&F chairman James Stewart sad. “The combined organization will allow us to serve more communities and operate with greater scale and effectiveness.”
 

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