Mike Carlton, the president and CEO of Cary-based Crescent State Bank, is leaving the bank he helped launch in 1998 after it is acquired by Piedmont Community Bank Holdings of Raleigh.
Carlton will remain with the bank for 90 days after the acquisition occurs to assist with the transition, the bank wrote in a regulatory filing.
Piedmont received the go-ahead from regulators last month to acquire a controlling stake in Crescent's corporate parent, Crescent Financial Corp.
The $75 million deal is expected to close soon.
Scott Custer, the former CEO of Raleigh-based RBC Bank, will become CEO of Crescent Financial when the deal is completed. Adam Abram, Piedmont's chairman, will be chairman of Crescent Financial.
Piedmont was formed in 2009 to acquire a network of banks and has a controlling interest in two other community banks in North Carolina: VantageSouth Bank of Burlington and Community Bank of Rowan in Salisbury.
Piedmont agreed in February to buy Crescent stock at $4 a share, which will give it about 66 percent of its outstanding shares.
Crescent, like many community banks, has been losing money because of defaults on loans arising from high unemployment and the struggling real estate market.
Carlton worked for BB&T and SouthTrust Bank before helping to launch Crescent.
Business reporter David Bracken came to the N&O in 2004. He covers commercial and residential real estate. Contact David at 919-829-4548 or