Navigant Capital Advisors, a subsidiary of Navigant Consulting, has advised Green Bancorp, the holding company for Green Bank, in closing an aggregate USD100m private placement of common stock with several independent investment firms.
The investors include funds affiliated with Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, Harvest Partners, and Pine Brook Road Partners.
No investor will own more than 24.9 percent of the common stock of the company.
The new capital will be used to expand current operations, as well as to pursue growth opportunities, including bank and branch acquisitions, structured transactions and FDIC-assisted transactions.
The transaction exemplifies the growing number of private equity firms investing in healthy banks which can then serve as a platform for acquiring distressed banks and market consolidation opportunities. During the first two quarters of 2010, there have already been 17 completed or announced investment transactions involving private equity firms, compared to a total of 18 such transactions in 2009. Since the end of 2006, more than 50 private equity firms have invested in over 55 regional banks.
Green Bank is a national bank headquartered in Houston, Texas and focuses on the commercial and private banking needs of middle market businesses and individuals. As of 31 March 2010, Green Bancorp reported total consolidated assets of USD536.4m. As a result of the capital raise, the company will have total common equity of approximately USD150.0m, resulting in an increase in the company’s Tier 1 Capital Ratio from 8.3 per cent to approximately 25.0 per cent as of 30 June 2010.
