Atlantic Union Agrees to Buy Sandy Spring for $1.6 Billion

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. agreed to buy rival Sandy Spring Bancorp for about $1.6 billion in stock, as consolidation picks up among small and midsize banks.

Sandy Spring investors will receive 0.9 shares of Atlantic Union stock for each share they own, valuing Sandy Spring at about $34.93 per share, according to a statement Monday that confirmedan earlier Bloomberg News report.

Mergers have been picking up in recent months among banks with less than $50 billion in assets, as those types of institutions struggle with tepid loan growth and anemic net interest margins, meaning the spread between what banks ...