Click for Ave Maria, Florida Forecast

The Ave Herald

Serving the community of Ave Maria, Florida

Home

Shamrock Bank Agrees to Merge with First National Bank

Shamrock bank, which operates a branch in Ave Maria, has agreed to merge with First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

"We believe this merger is good for all the customers of Shamrock," said Shamrock President Colleen Kvetko, who will be on the board of the merged company and serve as an executive vice president.

"The environment for community banks has been tough," Mrs. Kvetko said in an interview. "We had a large amount of loans overhanging from 2007 and 2008, and the bank has not been profitable. The board determined that it had two options, either raise more capital or find a partner."

The merger with First National will also make available to Shamrock customers services like mobile banking that Mrs. Kvetko said are vital in today's banking environment, but that would have been difficult for a relatively small bank like Shamrock to develop.

The merger requires approval from regulators and Shamrock shareholders, which Mrs. Kvetko said is expected, and once approved the transction would close in the first quarter of 2014. At that time, time the Ave Maria location would be a branch of First National, Mrs. Kvetko said.

"It's not often that a merger really is a win-win for both parties, but this is one of those times," Mrs. Kvetko said.

Tom Monaghan founded Shamrock Bank in 2007 with a location on Fifth Ave. South in Naples. It now has $101 million in assets and the company statement said the combined banking entity would have total assets of $770 million, with six retail banking locations in Collier County.

Click here for story from Naples Daily News 

The news release on the merger is available by clicking here.

 

Looking for the truth about
what Ave Maria is really like?
So much of what has been
reported is wrong.
Click for the most
oft-repeated myths about
Ave Maria and the reality.