United Bankshares to acquire Virginia Commerce Bancorp

Published January 30, 2013 by Robert Powell, III

Charleston, W.Va.-based United Bankshares Inc., plans to acquire Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. in a $491 million deal.

Arlington-based Virginia Commerce, the parent company of Virginia Commerce Bank,  has $2.8 billion in assets and 28 banking offices, one residential mortgage origination office and one wealth management office in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The deal was announced less than three weeks after Virginia Commerce announced that it was for sale. The bank had paid back funds received in the governments Troubled Asset Relief (TARP) program in December.

With the acquisition, United’s assets will grow to approximately $11.2 billion. The company has completed 28 acquisitions since 1982.

Richard M. Adams, United’s chairman and CEO, says the deal will allow United to significantly expand its presence in the Washington area.

Under a definitive agreement between the companies, United will acquire all of Virginia Commerce’s outstanding shares in exchange for United common stock.

The exchange ratio will be 0.5442 of United shares for each share of Virginia Commerce share. Based on a 10-day closing average of United stock, the deal is worth $14 a share for a total value of about $490.6 million.

The acquisition price represents a premium of 15 percent over Virginia Commerce’s closing price on Tuesday and is .82 times the company’s tangible book value at Dec. 31. 

The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013, pending regulatory approvals and the approval of company shareholders.

With the acquisition, United will rank as the eighth largest bank in terms of deposit market share position in the Washington, D.C. metro area.

United currently has $8.4 billion in assets and 115 offices in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.