A North Carolina bank that had been itching to expand its South Carolina footprint has put its name on eight recently acquired branches from the Upstate to the coast. 

First Bank announced March 13 that it moved all of the customer accounts it picked up from its $205 million all-stock purchase of Greenville-based GrandSouth Bank to a single operating system last weekend.

The technology conversion went smoothly, said First Bank CEO Mike Mayer.  

"Growing our South Carolina footprint has been a long-term priority for us and by partnering with GrandSouth we now serve all major markets in the Carolinas," he said in a written statement. 

Announced in mid-2022, the sale was finalized Jan. 3, giving the Southern Pines, N.C.-based acquirer 194 employees and $1.25 billion in loans and assets. 

The eight branches along the I-26 corridor that have been outfitted with First Bank signage are in Greenville, Fountain Inn, Anderson, Greer, Columbia, Orangeburg and Charleston. When the sale was announced, the buyer described those markets as "key towns and cities" in its South Carolina growth strategy. All of the offices will remain open.

Before the buyout, First Bank had seven branches in the Palmetto State, from Florence in the Pee Dee region to Gaffney. It was looking to add more.

The bank found a willing seller last June in GrandSouth, which opened its doors in 1998. The business-focused lender began expanding beyond the Upstate in 2016. It opened a Charleston office the following year and eventually settled on a permanent Holy City location on Morrison Drive.

At the same time, GrandSouth faced a dilemma that's common among many small banks that need to make big-ticket investments in areas such as mobile services and cybersecurity — stay independent or become part of a bigger organization.

"The alignment of our values and operating philosophies is so important, and I believe we found a great match in First Bank," said former GrandSouth CEO JB Schwiers, who has stayed on after the sale as South Carolina president.

Founded in 1935, First Bank is ranked as the fifth largest bank headquartered in its home state, with $12 billion in assets and 1,200 employees at 118 offices in the Carolinas. It's a subsidiary of publicly traded First Bancorp, which is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FBNC.

The Southern Pines lender first ventured into the Palmetto State about 20 years ago, when it bought Latta-based Carolina Community Bank for $17.7 million. It followed up that deal with the purchase of the Cheraw-based owner of Sentry Bank and Trust, for about $42 million in 2008.

Contact John McDermott at 843-937-5572 or follow him on Twitter at @byjohnmcdermott