Venture Financial Group, Inc. has filed to come public via an IPO under the ticker "VNBK" on NASDAQ.  Venture Financial is a bank holding company and parent of Washington state-chartered Venture Bank that operates in the southern Puget Sound region.

The IPO filing is for up to $46 million in securities.  Keefe Bruyette & Woods and D.A.Davidson are the only two underwriters listed in the filing.  This chartered bank has made several acquisitions in the area.  As of march 31 ithad $1.1 Billion in assets with net loans listed as $721.2 million, net deposits as $787.4 million, and shareholders equity at $87.5 million.  It also claims 12-months trailing diluted earnings per share of $1.65 EPS.  Venture Bank was established in 1979 and now operates 18 full-service financial centers located primarily along the Interstate 5 corridor in the Puget Sound region of western Washington.

Jon C. Ogg
July 17, 2007

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.