Central Bancompany pivots to public ownership
After four generations of family control, Central Bancompany is transitioning into public ownership in an up to US$427m Nasdaq IPO.
Morgan Stanley, Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Bank of America, Piper Sandler and Stephens began actively pitching investors last week for the sale of 17.8m shares marketed at US$21–$24 for pricing on Wednesday November 19.
The Jefferson City, Missouri-based community bank “soft launched” on October 31, when it removed the delaying amendment from the IPO prospectus, starting a 20-day countdown to automatic effectiveness and trading on November 20.
Central shares are thinly traded on an OTC venue at a recent price of US$21.05 on an average of 2,200 shares per day.
The IPO allotment amounts to just 7.4%, with descendants of Central’s founder Sam Baker Cook, the great grandfather of current chairman S Bryan Cook, retaining a controlling 71.1% stake through a family trust.
The Cooks are not selling cheap. The IPO is being marketed at up to 1.8 times tangible book value of US$13.29 as of September 30.
That valuation is supported by US$19.2bn of assets, plus another US$15.2bn under its wealth advisory business, held across 156 branches in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Central posted a net profit of US$283m as interest income grew by 9.7% to US$734.7m in the nine-month period ended September 30.
Founded in 1902, Central began growing aggressively through acquisitions in 1972, with 47 deals completed over the past 52 years. Central is using some of the IPO proceeds to fund future growth through acquisitions.