Another bank merger is delayed because of coronavirus outbreak

Pinnacle Bankshares in Altavista, Va., and Virginia Bank Bankshares in Danville, Va., have pushed back the closing date for their proposed merger because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The $481 million-asset Pinnacle agreed to buy the $221 million-asset Virginia Bank in late January for $29.1 million in cash and stock. The companies had planned to close the deal in the third quarter.

Pinnacle and Virginia Bank said in a Wednesday press release that the transaction could close as late as the fourth quarter.

The companies said that a delay will allow them to focus on their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic but that they “remain fully committed to completing this transaction once the uncertainty surrounding this pandemic subsides.”

The companies said they will also delay filings with state and federal regulators, as well as their shareholder votes.

“We continue to believe this transformational merger … remains an important strategic initiative for the customers and employees of both banks and is financially attractive to our shareholders,” Todd Hall, Pinnacle’s president and CEO, said in the release.

“The merger is still a tremendous opportunity to combine two neighboring community banks with similar cultures and philosophies to create an even stronger entity,” Hall added.

Pinnacle-Virginia Bank is the latest bank merger to be put o nhold as a result of the pandemic.

Flushing Financial in Uniondale, N.Y., and Empire Bancorp in Islandia, N.Y., announced on March 23 that they would push back the closing of their merger from April 4 to as late as the third quarter.

VSB Bancorp in Staten Island, N.Y., rescheduled a vote to approve its sale to Northfield Bancorp in Woodbridge, N.J., from April 28 to June 23. While the companies did not adjust a plan to close the deal in the third quarter, the new meeting date would only give them a week to finalize the $62.9 million deal on time.