Primis in Va. agrees to buy mortgage company

Primis Financial in McLean, Va., has agreed to buy a mortgage lender.

The $2.4 billion-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it expects to acquire SeaTrust Mortgage from Community First Bank in the second quarter. Primis said in a regulatory filing that it will pay $7 million in cash and repay about $13.8 million of SeaTrust's debt under certain warehouse lending facilities.

SeaTrust, formed in 2019, originates mortgages through eight offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. It originated $255 million of loans in 2021, and its volume is on pace to reach $300 million this year.

John Owens, SeaTrust’s president, and Margaret Kronmueller, its chief operating officer, will remain with the company, which will rebrand as Primis Mortgage. 

"We have been public with our desire for a wholly-owned mortgage solution at Primis and believe SeaTrust is the ideal platform for us,” Dennis Zember Jr., Primis’ president and CEO, said in the release. 

“The platform is run very efficiently, already profitable … and fully licensed with FNMA and FHA,” Zember added. “The entire company is ambitious and excited about this new partnership.” 

The deal is expected to have a “negligible impact” on Primis’ tangible book value. Primis said the business will have a neutral impact on earnings and return on assets for the rest of this year because it plans to invest in recruiting and other growth-oriented systems.