Aquesta Financial Holdings Inc. and its subsidiary Aquesta Insurance Services Inc. have plans for expansion in the Wilmington market, the company announced Thursday.
 
The Cornelius, North Carolina-based insurance company, has purchased Alex Squires’ insurance portfolio from Wilmington-based James E. Moore Agency Inc. and, as part of the purchase, is hiring Squires and his associate, Dana Sutton. Squires and Sutton will join Aquesta on March 1, according to a news release.
 
“We are very excited to be adding a high quality, customer service oriented insurance agent and staff to our growing book of business,” Aquesta Insurance president Denis Bilodeau said in the release. “Wilmington and contiguous areas are fantastic markets for Aquesta. Alex brings an unparalleled level of expertise regarding flood, wind and associated risks that are so very relevant to that market.”
 
Squires and Sutton will open a new Aquesta Insurance Services office in Hampstead, according to Jim Engel, president and CEO of Aquesta Financial Holdings.
 
Aquesta plans to lease space in Hampstead, but details are not yet finalized, Engel said Thursday.
 
Engel also said that Aquesta Bank, another subsidiary of Aquesta Financial Holdings, has completed its purchase of a building and will open its first Wilmington-area branch there this spring. The full-service office will have a two-lane drive-thru and an ATM. The building is at 901 Military Cutoff Road, the location of Gateway Bank Mortgage.
 
“We’ve had a commercial lender [in Wilmington] for a while, and the timing looks right to open a branch,” he said.
 
Aquesta Bank and the Wilmington office of Aquesta Insurance Services will occupy the first floor of the building. Engel said bank officials are negotiating with a current tenant, whom they hope to retain.
 
Currently the local office of Aquesta Insurance Services occupies space at 700 Military Cutoff Road.
 
At present, Aquesta Bank has five branches in North Carolina located in Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Mooresville and Charlotte. Aquesta Insurance Services has offices in Cornelius, Huntersville, Mooresville and Wilmington.