Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

byline: Katherine Schulte

Virginians wagered $545M on sports in February

Virginians bet $545 million on sports in February, 25.6% more than in February 2023, according to data released Monday by the Virginia Lottery.

February’s handle was a 16.5% decrease from the $652.87 million Virginians bet in January. Virginia bettors won approximately $495 million in February and more than $587.5 million in January.

About $540 million of February’s gross sports gaming revenues came from mobile operators, and the remaining roughly $4.9 million came from casino retail activity. Virginia currently has three casinos: the temporary Bristol Casino: The Future Home of Hard Rock, the permanent Rivers Casino Portsmouth and the temporary Caesars Virginia casino in Danville. In February, Virginia’s gaming revenues from casinos totaled $57.3 million, according to the Virginia Lottery.

The licensed operators included in February’s reporting were:

  • Betfair Interactive US (FanDuel) in partnership with the Washington Commanders
  • Crown Virginia Gaming (Draft Kings)
  • BetMGM
  • Rivers Portsmouth Gaming (Rivers Casino Portsmouth)
  • Caesars Virginia
  • WSI US
  • Twin River Management Group
  • Penn Sports Interactive
  • Unibet Interactive
  • Colonial Downs Group
  • Digital Gaming Corporation VA
  • VHL VA
  • HR Bristol
  • Hillside (Virginia)
  • DC Sports Facilities Entertainment
  • Betr VA
  • PlayLive Virginia.

Virginia places a 15% tax on sports betting activity based on each permit holder’s adjusted gross revenue (total wagers minus total winnings and other authorized deductions). With 11 operators reporting net positive AGR for February, the month’s taxes totaled $6.3 million, of which 97.5% — about $6.18 million — will be deposited in the state’s general fund. The remaining approximately $158,570 goes to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, which the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services administers.

Kaufman & Canoles has new president and CEO

Jason R. Davis became president and CEO of Norfolk-based law firm Kaufman & Canoles on Monday.

Davis, who has been with Kaufman & Canoles since 1997, succeeds William R. Van Buren III in his role as president. Van Buren has served as the firm’s president and chairman for 16 years and will remain chairman.

“I am humbled and honored that my colleagues have the confidence to allow me to continue in the footsteps of my mentor and friend,” Davis said in a statement. “Under Mr. Van Buren’s leadership, our firm has become a leader in the legal industry, and I expect our growth only to accelerate in the coming years.”

Davis has been a member of the firm’s executive committee and is co-chair of its health care team. In his practice, he represents and advises hospitals, physicians, long-term care facilities and other health care providers. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from William & Mary Law School.

Under Van Buren’s tenure, Kaufman & Canoles extended to the Raleigh, North Carolina, market and became a member of TerraLex, an international network of law firms. The firm also received the Civic Leadership Institute’s 2019 corporate Darden Award, recognizing leadership in regional cooperation.

Additionally, the firm elected L. Scott Seymour, chair of its business taxation practice group and co-chair of its mergers and acquisitions group, and re-elected Nicole J. Harrell to its executive committee. Harrell will also serve as executive vice president of practice management, a role in which she will oversee the firm’s practice groups. Paul W. Gerhardt, managing director of the firm’s Richmond office, will also remain on the executive committee.

“As we continue to expand on our successes in Virginia and North Carolina, we are dedicated to providing our clients with excellent client service and coordinated teamwork managed by some of the best leaders at the firm,” Van Buren said in a statement. “I look forward to stepping back from my management role and continuing to be deeply involved in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions and health care practices and its ongoing business development efforts.”

Created by the merger of two law firms in 1982, Kaufman & Canoles had 92 lawyers in Virginia as of Jan. 1.

Chesapeake strip mall goes for $3.15M

A 7,800-square-foot retail strip center in Chesapeake sold for $3.15 million, according to a March news release from S.L. Nusbaum Realty.

Located at 1508 Sam’s Circle, Battlefield Shops has five tenants. It is shadow anchored by Walmart, Sam’s Club, At Home and Dollar Tree stores.

Battlefield Freedom Wash sold the property to Grit Andrew LLC. Doug Aronson, a senior managing director, and Carter Wells, an associate, both with SLN Capital Markets, represented the seller.

Norfolk apartments are sold for $3.1M

A 20-unit apartment property in Norfolk sold for $3.1 million on March 20.

Located at 1314 and 1318 Little Bay Ave., the property has 20 one-bedroom units that are each 600 square feet. The units were built in 1970.

Tidewater View sold the property to Nouveaux Little Bay. Justin Ferguson, Altay Uzun, Theo Jolley and Jack Carroll with Marcus & Millichap’s Hampton Roads and Richmond offices represented the seller.

Hotel in Salem changes hands for $3.1M

A Days Inn in Salem sold for $3.1 million on March 26.

Located at 1535 E. Main St., the two-story hotel has 70 rooms. It was built in 1974.

Evergreen Hotels purchased the property from Devkison LLC, according to property records. Milin Mehta, Chase Dewese, Jack Davis and Joce Messinger with Marcus & Millichap’s Charlotte Uptown and Charleston offices, in North and South Carolina respectively, represented the seller. Brian Hosey assisted in closing the transaction.

Apartment buildings in Portsmouth sell for $2.4M

A 17-unit apartment property in Portsmouth sold for $2.4 million, Marcus & Millichap announced Tuesday.

Built in 1987, Effingham Green Condos has 17 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units across two buildings on 2 acres. The property is located at 1007 Green St.

Capps Equity sold the property to Nouveaux Effingham. Justin Ferguson, Altay Uzun, Theo Jolley and Jack Carroll with Marcus & Millichap’s Hampton Roads and Richmond offices represented the seller.

Va. housing market picks up in February

The pace of sales in Virginia’s housing market picked up in February, increasing 3.5% over February 2023, according to Virginia Realtors data released Tuesday.

In February, there were 6,733 home sales in the commonwealth, 228 more sales than this time last year. At the end of the month, there were 16,004 homes on the market, up by 1,446 active listings from a year ago — a 9.9% increase.

New listings also increased in February, totaling 9,729, which is up 1,395 new listings, or 16.7%, from February 2023. The increase is the largest influx of new listings Virginia has had since summer 2021, Virginia Realtors Chief Economist Ryan Price said in a statement. Additionally, about 64% of cities and counties around Virginia had more listings on the market in February than this time last year, indicating an increase in supply.

“This increase is a welcome signal to buyers, but inventory levels are still tight, and market conditions remain very competitive in most parts of Virginia,” Price said in a statement.

Homes in Virginia were on the market for a median of 15 days last month, down one day from the 16-day median reported in February 2023.

Home prices continue to rise as demand remains high. The statewide median sales price in February was $384,576, up more than $14,500, or 3.9%, from last year.

Pent-up demand and tight (though improving) inventory levels will likely “keep the market competitive as we head into spring, and prices will remain on an upward trajectory across most of the state,” Tom Campbell, Virginia Realtors’ 2024 president, said in a statement.

The Virginia housing market had 7,356 pending sales last month, up by 546 pending sales from last year, an 8% increase.

Mortgage rates moved slightly lower this week. For the week ending March 28, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.79%, down 0.08% from the previous week, and the four-week average was 6.82%, according to Freddie Mac data.

“February’s uptick in pending sales and new listings indicates renewed interest from sellers and move-up buyers,” Virginia Realtors CEO Terrie Suit said in a statement. “If mortgage rates drift downward later this year, as they are expected to, we could see even more sales volume growth across Virginia.”

Capital One-Discover deal faces federal scrutiny

McLean-based Capital One Financial announced plans in February to buy Discover Financial Services for $35.3 billion in an all-stock deal that would mark Capital One’s largest ever acquisition and make it the nation’s biggest credit card lender.

The transaction is expected to close in late 2024 or early 2025, according to the banks. At close, Capital One shareholders would own about 60% of the combined company, and Discover shareholders would hold approximately 40%.

However, the deal must receive federal regulatory approval to move forward, and the Biden White House has fought consolidation of large corporations, including the proposed $3.8 billion merger of JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines, which was called off in March after the airlines lost an antitrust lawsuit. Although it’s the first bank merger of this size proposed during President Joe Biden’s term, he enacted an executive order in 2021 encouraging federal agencies with authority over banks, including the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., to update their guidelines on banking mergers “to provide more robust scrutiny.”

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement following the Capital One-Discover announcement that “a rubber-stamped merger that makes powerful financial companies even bigger and more powerful will do nothing for families.” From both sides of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, urged the Biden administration to block the deal, with Hawley charging it would grant Capital One “unprecedented powers to extort American consumers.”

If the merger goes through, Capital One would use Discover’s credit card payment network to process transactions, instead of relying on Visa and Mastercard platforms. Also, with Discover’s banking business included, Capital One would have more than $450 billion in deposits.

“From Capital One’s founding days, we set out to build a payments and banking company powered by modern technology. Our acquisition of Discover is a singular opportunity to bring together two very successful companies with complementary capabilities and franchises, and to build a payments network that can compete with the largest payments networks and payments companies,” Capital One Chairman, CEO and founder Richard Fairbank said in a statement.

Illinois-based Discover has a market value of about $27.6 billion. Capital One has a market capitalization of about $52.2 billion and reported $34.25 billion in 2022 revenue.  

Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this story.

First National to acquire Prince George-based community bank

Strasburg-based First National has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Prince George-based Touchstone Bankshares in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $47 million, First National announced Tuesday.

The parent companies’ merger combines community banks First Bank and Touchstone Bank to create a bank with expected total assets of about $2.1 billion, $1.5 billion in loans and $1.8 billion in deposits. The resulting company is expected to be the ninth largest Virginia community bank by deposits.

The combined company will have 30 branch offices across Virginia and two branches in North Carolina.

“We are thrilled to have found a partner with an equally long history of serving and supporting local customers and businesses in their communities,” First National President and CEO Scott Harvard said in a statement. “Combining our companies will help ensure that we continue to be part of the fabric of the communities we serve. … We are incredibly excited about this opportunity to expand our Richmond metro presence with the addition of seven branches in the market, and we look forward to welcoming the entire Touchstone team into the First Bank family.”

In the metro Richmond area, where it’s expected to have eight branches, the combined company’s deposits are expected to exceed $350 million.

According to the terms of the agreement, Touchstone shareholders will receive 0.8122 shares of First National stock for each share of Touchstone stock. Based on First National’s closing stock price of $17.55 on March 22, the deal’s approximate aggregate value is $47 million, or $14.25 per share of Touchstone stock.

“First National is a like-minded partner that shares our culture of supporting our communities by focusing on building meaningful relationships and personalized service to their customers,” Touchstone President and CEO James Black said in a statement. “We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to partner with First National in a transaction that we believe offers significant opportunities to our clients, communities, employees and shareholders.”

The companies’ boards of directors have unanimously approved the merger agreement. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

First National and First Bank will appoint three Touchstone directors to join the existing nine directors on each board. Black will join First Bank as an executive vice president and south region president.

Founded in 1906 as Bank of Dinwiddie, Touchstone currently has 12 branches across the metro Richmond area, south Central Virginia and northern North Carolina. As of Dec. 31, 2023, Touchstone reported total assets of $658.7 million, gross loans of $508.8 million and total deposits of $542.2 million.

First National is the holding company of First Bank, which opened in 1907. The company has 20 bank branches throughout the Shenandoah Valley, Central Virginia and the Roanoke Valley, as well as a customer service center in a retirement community and a loan production office. First Bank also operates First Bank Wealth Management and owns First Bank Financial Services, which invests in investment service and title insurance providers.

Atlantic Union names new Hampton Roads president

Richmond-based Atlantic Union Bank has named Lisa Morgan its new Hampton Roads market president, the Richmond-based bank announced Monday.

Morgan will also continue to hold the role of wealth relationship director with the bank’s wealth consulting group, a position she has held since she joined Atlantic Union Bank in 2021. Morgan will be the first female market president in the bank’s history.

Morgan succeeds Andy Hodge, who will continue to serve as the bank’s group president of middle market and corporate banking. As market president, Morgan will serve as regional liaison to partners in the Hampton Roads region, covering Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Poquoson, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg.

“Lisa is the kind of banker you want on your side because she genuinely loves working with and learning about the people she serves,” Dave Ring, executive vice president of wholesale banking and wealth management, said in a statement. “She’s passionate about her work and wants to know each customer’s story so she can better help them achieve their financial goals.”

Before joining Atlantic Union Bank, Morgan spent three years with Wells Fargo Private Bank. She was a senior vice president and wealth adviser, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that, Morgan worked with PNC’s Private Bank Hawthorn, providing family wealth management, for seven years.

Morgan holds a bachelor’s degree in merchandising from Ohio State University.

Atlantic Union Bank has 109 branches and 123 ATMs throughout Virginia and in parts of Maryland and North Carolina.

Atlantic Union Bankshares, the bank’s holding company, is set to acquire Danville-based American National Bankshares, the holding company of American National Bank and Trust. The company received the last regulatory approval needed for the merger in February, and the deal is set to close on April 1. The merger is expected to create a bank with total assets of $24.2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023, $18.5 billion in deposits and gross loans of $16.5 billion.