Tom Joyce | The News

Southern Community Bank and Trust branches in Mount Airy, including this one on Community Drive behind Burger King, now have a new name in conjunction with the company’s acquisition by Capital Bank Financial Corp. Another branch is located on Independence Boulevard.

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Quietly and unceremoniously, local branches of Southern Community Bank and Trust have received signage bearing their new names in conjunction with Southern’s acquisition by Capital Bank Financial Corp.

New Capital Bank signs showed up during the weekend at former Southern Community Bank locations. Two are those branches are in Mount Airy, at 255 E. Independence Blvd. near the downtown area and at 2010 Community Drive behind Burger King.

Such changes tend to occur over a holiday weekend. With banks closed on Monday for Veterans Day, it provided more opportunity to ensure an efficient software conversion from Southern to Capital.

That process, also including the changeover of accounts, was expected to be completed by today. A message on the bank’s website advised customers that new Capital Bank debit and ATM cards could not be activated until today, and that present Southern Community Bank cards should be used in the meantime.

Other information surfacing in conjunction with the move indicated that customers can continue using Southern Community checks until those supplies are exhausted.

The switchover has resulted from Capital Bank’s purchase of Southern Community being finalized on Oct. 1. The acquisition had been announced last March, when an agreement was reached to acquire 100 percent of the stock of Southern Community Financial Corp., pending stockholder and regulatory approvals.

Due to Capital Bank’s acquisition, Southern Bank’s 15-year tenure as an independent bank ended.

Twenty-two branches had operated under the name Southern Community Bank and Trust in the Piedmont Triad and elsewhere in North Carolina, with corporate offices in Winston-Salem.

The purchase price was reported as $52.2 million, with Capital also paying a $43 million obligation by Southern to the federal government from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

With the acquisition, Capital Bank gained assets of the publicly held financial services company which it put at about $1.5 billion.

Capital Bank now has $8.1 billion in assets and 165 branches, along with a new presence in North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad. Capital Bank was formed by Capital Bank Financial Corp. (formerly North American Financial Holdings Inc.), a bank holding company incorporated in Delaware in 2009.

The corporation’s strategy involves creating a regional banking franchise in the Southeast through organic growth and acquisitions of other banks, including failed, under-performing and under-capitalized institutions.