Centura Bank

Centura Bank was a bank headquartered in Rocky Mount, North Carolina from 1990, when Peoples Bancorp and Planters Corp. merged, to 2001, when Royal Bank of Canada acquired the company and changed its name to RBC Centura.

In 1918, the 22,000-square foot, five-story headquarters of Rocky Mount National Bank, the historic district's tallest building, was built in Rocky Mount.Frank Pierce Milburn was the architect. In 1934, the bank changed its name to People's Bank and Trust. The People's Building served as the bank's headquarters until the mid-1970s. It remained empty after the bank left until Selp-Help Ventures Fund bought the building in 2000 to convert to office space.

Robert L. Mauldin became chairman of Peoples Bancorp in 1984. When he first went to work for Peoples in 1969, it had 22 branches and $100 million.

Peoples Bancorp had $1.26 billion in assets when the bank announced its merger in 1990.

Planters Bank started in 1899.

Archie W. McLean served as the president and chief executive of Planters from 1950 until 1971, when he became chairman. When he retired in 1974, Planters was the state's tenth largest bank.

In 1985, Planters had assets of $620 million and 52 locations in 19 communities in the eastern part of the state when it announced the $10.1 million acquisition of Bank of Pilot Mountain, with $50.9 million in assets and two locations.

In 1990, Planters had $1.17 billion in assets.

A "merger of equals" created Centura Banks. Inc. in 1990. The name Centura came from Glenn Monigle & Associates Inc. of Denver, Colorado. When the two banks' chiefs, Dick Futrell of Planters and Mauldin of Peoples, announced the deal January 16, 1990, they said in a statement, "This is probably the most logical bank merger in North Carolina history." The merged banking company had $2.6 billion in assets and 116 branches and was the state's seventh-largest. Centura Bank had 102 branches; the holding company also owned Watauga Savings and Loan Association, Inc. in Boone, North Carolina and Mid-South Bank and Trust Company in Sanford, North Carolina. Over 700 employees worked in Rocky Mount. However, the two banks had very different cultures and the combination did not come easily. Planters was "old money" with "top down" decision making, while Peoples was "the town's common folk". Though Futrell led Centura, the merged bank had the Peoples culture. Completing the merger required some the sale of some branches. Unity Bank and Trust, started in 1989, bought eleven branches, giving the bank a total of twelve, and assets of $133 million.

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