Matrix Bancorp Announces Completion of Private Offering, Appointment of New Management Team and Adoption of Expanded Business Pl
December 12 2005 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
DENVER, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Matrix Bancorp, Inc.
(NASDAQ:MTXC) (the "Company") today announced the closing of the
previously disclosed private placement of 5,120,000 shares of
Company common stock at $19.00 per share. Friedman, Billings,
Ramsey & Co., Inc. served as the Company's placement agent in
connection with the private offering. The Company intends to use
the net proceeds of the private offering to conduct an issuer
tender offer to purchase shares of our common stock at a proposed
price of $19.00 per share. The Company has received commitments
from members of its prior senior management team, who as of
November 30, 2005 collectively owned approximately 2.46 million
shares of Company common stock, to tender 2.41 million shares of
Company common stock in the tender offer. Additionally, the Company
has received commitments from certain institutional investors, who
as of November 30, 2005 collectively had investment discretion over
693,588 shares of Company common stock, to tender 593,588 shares of
Company common stock in the tender offer. In connection with the
private offering, the Company entered into a registration rights
agreement for the benefit of purchasers of Company common stock
sold in the offering. Pursuant to the registration rights
agreement, the Company agreed to, among other things, file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission within 30 days after the closing
of the private offering a registration statement for the purchasers
in the private offering covering resales of the shares of Company
common stock sold in the private offering. In connection with the
closing of the private offering, the Company has appointed new
members of senior management to execute the Company's expanded
business plan -- as described in more detail below. Among the
members of new senior management are: Guy A. Gibson is the
Company's new chairman of the board. Mr. Gibson, one of the
founders of the Company, served as the Company's president from
1992 through June 2002 before resigning to found G2 Holding Corp.,
which owned and controlled Legent Clearing LLC, a securities
clearing firm, until its sale in February 2005. Scot T. Wetzel is
the Company's new president and chief executive officer. Mr. Wetzel
will also serve as chairman of the board of directors, president
and chief executive officer of our subsidiary, Matrix Capital Bank.
Mr. Wetzel has over 15 years of community banking experience. From
November 2000 through August 2005, Mr. Wetzel served as president
of the Colorado division of Compass Bancshares, Inc., a $30 billion
banking organization. Mr. Wetzel grew Compass Bancshares' Colorado
division, through acquisition and de novo expansion, to over 30
branches located along the Colorado Front Range market. Prior to
Compass Bancshares, from 1991 to 2000, Mr. Wetzel was employed by
KeyBank, most recently as senior vice president and sales leader of
corporate banking in Colorado. During his 10 years in Colorado,
banking teams under Mr. Wetzel's direction generated approximately
$1.8 billion in gross loan production and approximately $800
million in deposits. William D. Snider is expected to be appointed
as head of finance and risk-management for the Company commencing
in January 2006. In addition, Mr. Snider is expected to be elected
as a director and vice-chairman of our board of directors upon
election of at least one additional independent director to our
board of directors. Mr. Snider has over 30 years of banking
experience. From 2001 to present, Mr. Snider has served as a
director of Native American Bank, N.A., a national bank with $62.0
million in assets headquartered in Denver, Colorado. From January
2005 until his resignation from such position, which is expected to
be effective in January 2006, Mr. Snider also served as interim
chief executive officer of Native American Bank. Additionally, Mr.
Snider has previously served as Group Head Treasury for Continental
Bank Corp in Chicago and as the chief financial officer of two
public companies including, from 1992 until 1997, CoBank, which at
the time of his departure had $22.0 billion in assets. Michael J.
McCloskey is the Company's new chief operating officer with
responsibility for all of the Company's non-bank subsidiaries. Mr.
McCloskey has over 25 years of experience in corporate operations,
investment banking, fund management and law. Under the direction of
the Company's new management team, the Company intends to utilize
its existing infrastructure and reporting and accounting systems as
well as the income and equity generated from its wholesale banking
operations to fund the expansion of the Company's community banking
franchise in order to serve the needs of small to medium sized
businesses and individuals in the Colorado Front Range market. The
objective of the new management team is to increase shareholder and
franchise value by expanding the Company's community banking and
lending activities through the recruitment of experienced community
bankers who are knowledgeable and well-known in the Colorado Front
Range market, the development of a branch network within such
market, and the building of a balance sheet of traditional loan and
deposit products. Mr. Scot Wetzel, president and CEO of the
Company, commented: "The new management team of Matrix Bancorp is
excited to be part of a company whose platform we believe we can
successfully expand in order to grow and enhance the Company's
community banking and lending activities." He continued: "We will
seek to recruit experienced senior community bankers who have
established clientele and solid reputations in the Colorado Front
Range market. Over the last several years, the financial services
sector in the Colorado Front Range market has experienced
significant consolidation, and the new management team believes
that the larger remaining commercial banks appear to be focusing on
larger commercial clients. We believe there is an opportunity to
recruit community bankers that are seeking a platform to better
serve their small to middle market clients. The new team also
anticipates expanding the Bank's branch distribution network over
the foreseeable future. We have identified five key geographic
locations with attractive demographics that meet selected
parameters of our community banking strategy. These target markets
include Central Denver, Cherry Creek, the Denver Tech Center,
Boulder County and Fort Collins." Mr. Guy Gibson, Chairman of the
Board of the Company, added: "There are few community banking
organizations that are headquartered in the Colorado Front Range
market that have the Bank's size and lending limit. The Bank will
be locally managed with local decision-making, and the Bank will be
focused on serving the community banking needs of its commercial
and retail customers in the Colorado Front Range market. The new
management team intends to direct its marketing initiatives on
increasing awareness of the Bank's personalized customer service
focus in the local communities in the Colorado Front Range market.
We also intend to establish a new name and utilize a new logo for
our organization that will highlight our Colorado Front Range
focus. We believe that Colorado's economic demographics are very
attractive for several reasons. According to the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation, Colorado ranked in the top quartile with
respect to job growth in the United States during 2004 and 2005.
According to the Colorado State Book, in 2004, Colorado ranked
second in the nation in the percentage of advanced degrees and,
according to SNL Financial LLC, in 2005, Colorado was in the top
quartile with respect to median household income in the nation. Our
targeted market consists of the Colorado Front Range market, which
is composed of six metropolitan statistical areas: Boulder,
Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley and Pueblo. The
area serves as a major hub of commerce passing from the East Coast
to the West Coast of the United States. The area stretches from the
south in Colorado Springs through downtown Denver northward to Fort
Collins. Denver is the largest city within a 600-mile radius. In
2005, over 2.7 million people, or 57% of Colorado's population,
resided in the Denver and the Boulder-Longmont metropolitan
statistical areas. As of 2005, approximately 3.99 million people,
or 83% of Colorado's population, resided in the Colorado Front
Range market. Additionally, according to SNL Financial LLC,
Colorado is in the top 15th percentile with respect to projected
population growth in the United States from the years 2005 to 2010.
According to the FDIC's summary of deposit data as of June 30,
2005, the aggregate amount of deposits within the Colorado Front
Range market, including the Denver metropolitan area, totaled
approximately $57.0 billion and had grown 28% since June 30, 2002.
As of June 30, 2005, the Bank held less than 1.0% of such deposits.
Consequently, we believe that our targeted market is very large and
believes there is substantial opportunity for us to grow our market
share." The Company is a unitary thrift holding company that,
through its subsidiaries, provides diversified financial services
focused on wholesale banking, direct lending, trust activities,
mortgage servicing and other fee-based services. The Company is the
largest thrift institution headquartered in Colorado, as measured
by total assets. At September 30, 2005, the Company had total
consolidated assets of $2.0 billion, total loans of $1.4 billion,
total deposits of $1.2 billion and total consolidated shareholders'
equity of $99.8 million. Certain statements contained in this press
release that are not historical facts, including, but not limited
to, statements that can be identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate,"
"predict," \"believe," "plan," "estimate" or "continue" or the
negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable
terminology, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. The actual results of the future
events described in such forward-looking statements in this interim
report could differ materially from those stated in such
forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially are: third party claims or
actions in relation to ongoing or future litigation or bankruptcy
matters; interest rate fluctuations; level of delinquencies;
defaults and prepayments; general economic conditions; competition;
government regulation; the risks and uncertainties discussed
elsewhere in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2004 and in the Company's Current Report on Form
8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November
7, 2005; and the uncertainties set forth from time to time in the
Company's periodic reports, filings and other public statements.
The common stock sold in the private offering has not been
registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered
or sold in the United States in the absence of an effective
registration statement or exemption from the registration
requirements of the Securities Act. Holders of Company common stock
are advised to read the Company's Tender Offer Statement if and
when it becomes available, as it will contain important information
regarding the tender offer. The Company will notify all of holders
of Company common stock if and when the Tender Offer Statement
becomes available. When available, holders of Company common stock
may get the Tender Offer Statement and other filed documents
related to the tender offer for free at the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission's web site (http://www.sec.gov/). In addition,
holders of Company common stock may request a free copy of the
Tender Offer Statement and other documents related to the tender
offer from the Company following such time that it becomes
available. DATASOURCE: Matrix Bancorp, Inc. CONTACT: David W.
Kloos, Chief Financial Officer of Matrix Bancorp, Inc.,
+1-303-595-9898 Web site: http://www.matrixbancorp.com/
Copyright
Matrix Bancorp (NASDAQ:MTXC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Matrix Bancorp (NASDAQ:MTXC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024