Old Line Bancshares to acquire parent of Bay Bank

The parents of Old Line Bank and Bay Bank have agreed to merge in a $128.6 million deal that will create Maryland’s third-largest independent bank.

Old Line Bancshares Inc. will acquire Columbia-based Bay Bancorp with newly issued shares of its stock.

The acquisition, subject to approval by banking regulators and stockholders, would create a Bowie-based institution with consolidated assets of $2.6 billion and nearly 40 branches throughout Central Maryland.

“The combination of Old Line Bank and Bay Bank will create the strongest footprint of any Maryland-based independent commercial bank serving the Baltimore/Washington corridor,” Craig E. Clark, chairman of Old Line’s board of directors, said in a statement.

Consolidation has been sweeping through the state’s smaller banks as they strive to remain competitive and comply with increased regulation. In August, Howard Bancorp agreed to acquire the parent of First Mariner Bank in a $163 million deal that creates a bank with $2.1 billion in assets.

Old Line’s acquisition of Bay Bank, expected to close in the second quarter of 2018, will be its fifth since 2011. It recently completed an acquisition of DCB Bancshares, the parent of Damascus Community Bank in Montgomery County.

Old Line and Bay Bank have few, if any, overlapping branches.

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