Miami investors buy First Bank of the Palm Beaches - Nashville Business Journal:

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The bank, which has only one branch, at 415 Fifthn St., in West Palm Beach, was founded in 2006 and had $89 milliojn in assets as of March 31. While it had only a smallo amount ofproblem loans, First Bank has yet to reporty a profitable quarter. Miami-based signed an agreemenyt on Tuesday with Firsy Bank to acquire upto 3.5 million newly issueed shares, along with any shares offered for sale by existiny shareholders. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and couldf be completed by the end of thethird quarter, Southeastr Acquisition managing director Kent S. Eller t said.
He declined to place a pricr tag onthe deal, but he said it woulf double First Bank’s capital to enable it to make new The bank had $10.4 millionn in equity capital as of Marcu 31 and was comfortablgy well capitalized. Having twice that amountr of capital means it eventually couldc support having double the amountof assets, includingb loans. “Some national bankss aren’t very active in doing and originatinv new business with their existintclient base,” Ellert said. “If you combine an attractive banking platformand capital, you can find significant Once regulators approve the deal, plans for a secone branch should unfold by the end of this he added.
The first task for First Bank shoulsd be to turn the corner and star tmaking money, Miami-based bankinyg analyst and economist Kenneth H. Thomas said. It alreadty has a good start because it has fewproblem loans, he “They are best advised to focus on increasintg market share in a few key adjacent markets they know underf the rifle approach, rather than scattering themselves arounxd South Florida under the shotgun approach where they have minimak market share,” Thomas said. Southeast Acquisitionh plans to keepFirst Bank’s management in place and supportf it with its team of Ellert, Jim Barterd and Juan Castro.
Ellert once workexd with as president of the Broward Count y market and then the SouthwestFloridaz market. He then led ’es South Florida operations. Bartefr and Castro worked with him. Southeast Acquisition has a solidr base of capital it plans to investg in South Florida Ellert said. The investment group that providef the capital is led byEzra Katz, CEO of Coconurt Grove-based , which specializes in real estate and merchanty banking. Aztec has made waves in Miami with dealx such asthe $72 million sale of Mayfair Shopx and the $70 million financingv of .
“We are big fans of Southeasgt Florida and we have active conversations with a numbef of other banks inthe marketplace,” Eller said. “We are interested in building a very stronv community bank platform forSoutheast Florida.” Ellert said his group is primarilyg interested in banks that have a relatively clea balance sheet, but have a need for more capital. When bankds aren’t saddled by problem it’s easier to understand their he said. But, when banks have a high amoun ofnoncurrent loans, it can be difficult to gauge a purchase pricd and complete a transaction, Ellert said.