C1 Bank Receives State of Florida Notice of Intent to Approve acquisition of U.S. Century Bank

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Trevor Burgess, the Chief Executive Officer of C1 Bank, and Ramon E. Rasco, the Chairman of U.S. Century Bank, announced today that the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation has provided notice of its intent to approve C1 Bank's acquisition of Doral, FL based U.S. Century Bank. U.S. Century Bank's shareholders have also approved C1 Bank's acquisition. The acquisition will be accomplished through the merger of U.S. Century Bank into C1 Bank.

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Over 80 percent of the votes cast by U.S. Century Bank's shareholders were in favor of the transaction at a vote held on November 27th. This transaction will introduce C1 Bank to Miami-Dade and Broward counties and will grow C1 Bank to approximately $2.2 billion in assets and 45 branches serving nearly 50,000 clients.

CBM Florida Holding Company, C1 Bank's controlling shareholder, was established in 2008 to acquire, capitalize and rehabilitate Florida banking institutions. Its first investment was completed in December 2009 when it acquired a controlling interest in Community Bank of Manatee followed by the May 2011 acquisition of First Community Bank of America and by the May 2012 acquisition of The Palm Bank.

St. Petersburg based C1 Bank currently has approximately $901 million in assets. It is one of the fastest growing and most profitable banks in the State of Florida. C1 Bank was recently named by Inc. magazine as one of the 5000 fastest growing companies in the United States.

Trevor Burgess, CEO of both C1 Bank and CBM Florida Holding Company said, "We expect to close this acquisition by the end of December. We appreciate the State of Florida's hard work on our application and the notice of their intent to approve the acquisition. C1 Bank brings a fresh and exciting view towards banking and looks forward to continuing U.S. Century's tradition of providing excellent service to the communities of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. We plan on being the most attentive and service-oriented bank in the market."

"Our shareholders have voted decisively to support the merger with C1 Bank. Finding C1 Bank as a partner is a great achievement and will allow our clients to continue to receive the same level of first class service they have grown accustomed to," said Ramon E. Rasco.

Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.

About C1 Bank: C1 Bank is a local, independent bank that serves thousands of sophisticated savers and borrowers from 21 locations in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Charlotte and Pasco counties and online at www.C1Bank.com. C1 Bank is a leader in checking, savings and money markets, residential mortgages, business loans, SBA loan programs, and association and treasury services. C1 Bank is the Official Bank of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Official Bank of the Outback Bowl.

C1 Bank services include:

• Full Service Checking, Savings and Money Market depository products for consumers and businesses
• Residential mortgages, from "30 years fixed" to "jumbo" products all with fast local decision making
• Business and commercial real estate loans of up to $20 million to help local businesses grow
• Small Business Administration loans of up to $5 million – C1 Bank is a Preferred Lender and is consistently ranked as one of the region's top SBA lenders
• Emerald Banking for doctors, lawyers, accountants and other business professionals
• Association and Treasury Services - providing lockbox services to condominiums and other businesses who need to carefully track their accounts receivable

SOURCE C1 Bank