April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have seized

Republic First Bancorp ( FRBK ) and agreed to sell it to Fulton

Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Friday,

underscoring the challenges facing regional banks a year after

the collapse of three peers.

The Philadelphia-based bank, which had abandoned funding

talks with a group of investors, was seized by the Pennsylvania

Department of Banking and Securities.

The FDIC, appointed as a receiver, said Fulton Bank, a unit

of Fulton Financial Corp, will assume substantially all

deposits and purchase all the assets of Republic Bank to

"protect depositors".

Republic Bank had about $6 billion in total assets and $4

billion in total deposits, as of Jan. 31, 2024. The FDIC

estimated the cost of the failure to its fund will be $667

million.

The bank's 32 branches in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New

York will reopen as branches of Fulton Bank on Saturday or on

Monday during business hours.

The decision marks the latest U.S. regional bank failure

following the unexpected collapses of three lenders - Silicon

Valley and Signature in March 2023 and First Republic in May.

Republic Bank had struck a deal with an investor group that

included veteran businessman George Norcross, high-profile

attorney Philip Norcross late last year, but the effort was

terminated in February.

After that deal collapsed, the FDIC resumed efforts to seize

and sell the bank, according to the Wall Street Journal, which

first reported the news.

Republic Bank cut jobs and exited its mortgage origination

business in early 2023 as it reeled under pressure from higher

costs and inability to improve profitability

The bank's stock price has tumbled from just over $2 at the

start of the year to about 1 cent on Friday, leaving it with a

market capitalization below $2 million.

Its shares were delisted from the Nasdaq in August and now

trade over the counter.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra, Pritam Biswas and Nathan Gomes in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sriraj Kalluvila)