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 Community Bank Holdings, the Raleigh company run by former RBC Bank CEO Scott Custer, has raised $105 million to finance its purchase of a controlling stake in Crescent State Bank.

A total of 29 investors took part in the capital raising, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Piedmont announced last month that it had agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Crescent for $75 million.

The deal will provide new capital into Crescent's corporate parent, Crescent Financial Corp. of Cary, which has been losing money as the ailing real estate market and high unemployment have triggered defaults among borrowers.

It still must be approved by Crescent shareholders and regulators. It's expected to close in the second quarter.
 

Scott Custer, the recently departed CEO of RBC Bank, has wasted little time in finding a new gig.

Custer said this afternoon that he has taken over as CEO of Piedmont Community Bank Holdings, a Chapel Hill company that registered in North Carolina late last year.

Custer, who stepped down as RBC's CEO on Nov. 1, declined to comment further on his new job until the company makes a formal announcement about his hiring on Thursday.

According to filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, Piedmont Community Bank Holdings has raised $12 million from investors.

Farewell, Scott Custer.

Today was the last day at work for the CEO of Raleigh-based RBC Bank. Custer, 52, unexpectedly announced this month that he would step down after five years at the top spot.

A few coworkers held an in-office, informal lunch for Custer today.

The bigger bash was Oct. 21, when about 200 RBC employees roasted Custer at the downtown Sheraton, sharing stories from his 20 years with the bank and its predecessor, Centura. Another highlight was a video with old photos and bloopers from some of Custer's TV ads over the years.

Custer hasn't said what he plans to do next. "It's a good time for me to come up for air and see what else is out there," he said during an Oct. 1 interview.

Meanwhile, in Sunday's Work&Money section, read more about Custer's replacement at CEO, Jim Westlake. Turns out he's no stuffy banker, although he admits to "being the least talented person" in his rock band.

Scott Custer doesn't yet know what he'll do after he retires as CEO of RBC Bank, but he says that becoming numero uno at industry behemoth Bank of America isn't in the cards.

Custer, 52, who announced Thursday that he's retiring from Raleigh-based RBC Bank effective Nov. 1, went into self-deprecating mode when he was asked about the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis -- also announced this week.

"I think there would be a qualification issue there,"  Custer said. "I'm not quite sure I'm on the list of candidates. I think they are fishing in different waters, as opposed to where I am."

RBC Bank, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, has more than 430 branches. Bank of America has more than 6,100 branches, serves clients in more than 150 countries and, thanks to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, is the world's largest brokerage firm.

RBC Bank CEO Scott Custer, the executive who moved the bank's headquarters from Rocky Mount to a downtown Raleigh skyscraper, is retiring.

The Raleigh-based bank announced this morning that Custer, 51, is retiring after 25 years in the financial services industry. Custer has been CEO of the bank, which at the time was called RBC Centura, since the fall of 2004.

Custer is being succeeded as CEO by his boss, Jim Westlake, the head of international banking and insurance for the bank's corporate parent, Royal Bank of Canada, as well as the current chairman of RBC Bank. Westlake will retain those roles as well.