St. Pete bank to sell $103M in small business loans to Miami company

BayFirst Financial Corp., the St. Petersburg-based parent company of BayFirst National Bank, announced Monday it plans to sell an estimated $103 million in SBA 7(a) loan balances to Banesco USA. 

The move, part of what BayFirst’s efforts to “de-risk” its balance sheet., comes some two months after it sent a notice to state officials that it was laying off 52 people in in its SBA program. The sale to Banesco USA is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year, the announcement says. 

A “majority” of BayFirst’s SBA lending staff and support teams will be offered positions with Banesco USA, the announcement says.