GREENSBORO, N.C., Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On December 20, 2016, the shareholders of Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLBH) voted at a special meeting of shareholders to approve the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, dated as of June 21, 2016, providing for the merger of Carolina Bank Holdings with First Bancorp (Nasdaq:FBNC). The votes cast by Carolina Bank Holdings shareholders in favor of the proposal to approve the merger represented approximately 73.43% of the company’s issued and outstanding common stock entitled to vote as of October 21, 2016, the record date for the special meeting. Of the shares voted, approximately 99.62% voted to approve the merger.

First Bancorp and Carolina Bank Holdings have received approval for the merger from the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks. An application for approval of the merger is also currently under review by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The merger is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017, subject to receipt of all required regulatory approvals.

About Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc.

Carolina Bank, the banking subsidiary of Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc., began banking operations on November 25, 1996. The parent company is a North Carolina corporation organized in 2000. The bank is engaged in lending and deposit gathering activities in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina, with operations in four counties: Guilford, Alamance, Forsyth and Randolph. The bank has eight full-service banking locations, three in Greensboro, one in Asheboro, one in High Point, one in Burlington, and two in Winston-Salem. Residential mortgage loan production offices are located in Burlington, Chapel Hill and Sanford in addition to a wholesale residential mortgage operation in Greensboro. Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc.’s stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol CLBH. Further information is available on the company’s web site: www.carolinabank.com.