Bank of North Carolina, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nasdaq-listed BNC Bancorp, has entered an agreement to acquire the outstanding capital stock of Regent Bank, which provides wealth management services in South Carolina, from Regent Bancorp.

Under the terms of the deal Regent Bancorp will receive $9.75 million in cash, a small premium adjusted to book value, subject to certain adjustments. The acquired unit will be merged with Bank of North Carolina immediately following the deal, providing the latter firm with its first office in the Greenville market.

BNC expects the transaction to close in Q1 2012, and be immediately accretive to net income and earnings per share, excluding one-off merger-related costs. BNC Bancorp’s share price closed up 0.44 per cent on Friday at $6.86.

“This entry into Greenville fits our prototypical expansion model into major metro-markets: a large city/regional office that will allow us to expand our commercial lending, business services, wealth, and mortgage and other retail offerings throughout the city and region," said Rick Callicutt, president of Bank of North Carolina.