Banking, finance, and taxes

Equity Bancshares Readies for IPO

Equity Bancshares has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). No terms were given in the filing, but the offering is valued up to $35 million. The company intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol EQBK.

The underwriters for this offering are Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Stephens.

This bank holding company is headquartered in Wichita, Kan. The wholly owned banking subsidiary, Equity Bank, provides a broad range of financial services primarily to businesses and business owners, as well as individuals, through a network of 25 full-service branches located in Kansas and Missouri. As of June 30, 2015, the company had, on a consolidated basis, total assets of $1.4 billion, total deposits of $1.0 billion, total loans of $828.5 million (net of allowances) and total stockholders’ equity of $121.7 million. It has been profitable nine out of the past 10 years and each of the past five years.

Equity Bancshares’ principal objective is to increase stockholder value and generate consistent earnings growth by expanding commercial banking franchise both organically and through strategic acquisitions. The company strives to provide an enhanced banking experience for its customers by providing them with a comprehensive suite of sophisticated banking products and services tailored to meet their needs, while delivering the high-quality, relationship-based customer service of a community bank.

In the filing the bank commented on its operations:

We have grown our loan portfolio from $280.5 million as of December 31, 2010 to $828.5 million as of June 30, 2015 (net of allowances). Our loan portfolio composition was 74.8% commercial and 25.2% 1-4 family and other as of June 30, 2015, and within our commercial loan portfolio, 61.2% of such loans were commercial real estate loans and 38.8% of such loans were commercial and industrial loans. Our repositioning efforts following the acquisition of First Community helped expand our commercial loan portfolio (net of allowances) from 72.0% of our loan portfolio as of December 31, 2012 to 74.8% of our loan portfolio as of June 30, 2015. …

We have grown our deposits from $374.1 million at December 31, 2010 to $1.0 billion at June 30, 2015. Our repositioning efforts following the acquisition of First Community helped improve our deposit mix by increasing our Signature Deposits from 59.7% of our total deposits as of December 31, 2012 to 62.9% of our total deposits as of June 30, 2015. The improvement in our deposit mix as well as the current rate environment have helped lower our cost of interest-bearing deposits from 83 basis points at December 31, 2012 to 45 basis points at June 30, 2015.

ALSO READ: 8 Fresh Analyst Stock Picks With 50% to 100% Upside

Sponsored: Want to Retire Early? Start Here

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Orare you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.