United Bankshares to Acquire Virginia Commerce for $491 Million

United Bankshares Inc., the largest lender based in West Virginia, agreed to buy Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. (VCBI) for $491 million to expand around Washington.

Virginia Commerce investors will receive 0.5442 shares of Parkersburg-based United Bankshares for every one of theirs, valuing the takeover-target’s stock at about $14, the companies said today in a statement. The transaction is set to be completed in the third quarter.

Virginia Commerce, which paid back government bailout funds last month, has $2.8 billion in assets, according to the statement. Focusing on the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, it has 28 banking offices, as well as one residential mortgage-origination office and one wealth- management office.

The deal “creates the leading independent community bank operating throughout the most attractive markets in Northern Virginia and Washington,” United Bankshares Chief Executive Officer Richard Adams said in the statement. “VCBI is a well- run banking franchise and will be a great partner.”

United Bankshares fell 1.4 percent to $25.47 at 10:49 a.m. in New York trading. Arlington-based Virginia Commerce rose 7 percent to $13.07, the highest since October 2007.

Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP and law firm Troutman Sanders LLP advised Virginia Commerce. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. and law firm Bowles Rice LLP advised United Bankshares.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Dexheimer in New York at edexheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Scheer at dscheer@bloomberg.net