Michael Schwartz

BizSense is once again looking to find the fastest growing companies in Richmond. The application process is now open for our popular RVA 25 list and event. And this year we’ll celebrate on top of one of Richmond’s tallest office buildings.

BizSense caught up with Union First Market Bank CEO Billy Beale last week to talk about Union’s first two quarters after a major merger, whether the performance of the combined bank has lived up to his expectations and the arrival of formidable competition on Union’s home turf.

The insurance firm added to its eccentric portfolio with the purchase of a Georgia trailer company.

A local exec cashes out on a $2M stock option. A downtown REIT has two hotel acquisitions in the works. And Richmond’s king of tobacco provides an update on the roll out of its new e-cigarette product.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in deals closed by local investment banking firms in the last month including IPOs, debt offerings and mergers and acquisitions.

A Richmond-based frozen yogurt brand is continuing its international expansion with a deal to bring locations to the Egyptian cities of Cairo and Alexandria.

The deal between TowneBank and Franklin Federal Savings Bank is the third M&A transaction announced this year involving a Richmond bank and the fourth in the last 12 months, further illustrating that the trend of consolidation in the banking industry overall may be picking up in the local market.