First Bancorp announced the acquisition of Select Bancorp Tuesday. 

First Bancorp is the parent company of First Bank and Select Bancorp is the parent company of Select Bank and Trust Company, which has the leading community bank market share in Fayetteville, NC. 

Bill Hedgepeth, who is the president, CEO, and director of Select, said he is excited about the coming partnership. 

"We have long admired First Bancorp, and our combined company will be positioned to capitalize on an enhanced presence in exceptional markets, talent, and financial strength," Hedgepeth said. 

The CEO of First Bancorp, Richard Moore, echoed Hedgepeth’s sentiments, seeing Select Bank’s reputation as a bonus in the deal. 

“Select Bank is a high quality institution with a long-standing history of service and strong community banking relationships. We are thrilled that the Select Bank team will be joining First Bank, and we look forward to the opportunity to serve their customers,” Moore said. 

First Bancorp is headquartered in Moore County in Southern Pines. The company operates 102 bank branches, 96 of which are in North Carolina. 

Select Bancorp, Inc., headquartered in Dunn, has 22 full-service locations throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. 

The merger agreement will allow First Bancorp to acquire Select in an all-stock transaction with a current value of roughly $314.3 million, or $18.10 per share.

Under the deal’s agreement, which will be finalized in the fourth quarter of this year, Select shareholders will receive 0.408 shares of First Bancorp's common stock for each share of Select common stock.

Once the agreement is finalized, between Bancorp and Select, the merged company will have more than $9 billion in assets, $6 billion in loans and $8 billion in deposits.