A Hoschton bank closed a stock sale with New York investors earlier this week and will use some of the cash to buy struggling institutions and pay down government aid.
Hamilton State Bank held a private stock offering Monday for $231.6 million, with investment firms Tailwind Capital and Angela, Gordon & Co. investing $60 million each.
The bank intends to use the proceeds to buy back preferred stock issued to the Treasury Department as part of the Capital Purchase Program, put capital toward the bank's future and acquire other institutions.
Executives will start looking now to buy up distressed banks in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted transactions, Hamilton State's CEO Bob Oliver said.
"We're very pleased with the results of the offering," he said. "We believe this transaction will yield solid benefits to both our customers and our shareholders."
Oliver, a former chief executive of Atlanta-based Premier Bank that merged into BB&T in 2000, said he's looking for opportunities inside and outside of Georgia.
"Our management will remain in place and we are in a strong position to pursue attractive growth opportunities in our core markets in Georgia," he said.
The deal restructured the bank's board of directors to allow the New York investors to appoint one board member each.
It also adds six members, including former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executives Joseph Sclafani and Dennis O'Leary, and Ray Christman, former CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.
Georgia leads the nation in bank failures with 57 since mid-2008. Hamilton State is the fourth privately owned bank in Georgia to announce a cash raise of more than $200 million since 2009 to buy failed rivals.
Hamilton State, established in 2004 to serve commercial, real estate and personal banking services, has branches in Braselton, Gainesville, Oakwood, Jefferson, Hoschton and Cumming.
It received $7 million in assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Oliver, who will continue to serve as CEO, said the bank would file Tuesday with the Treasury Department for permission to repay TARP.
Now with $245 million in assets, Hamilton State could support growth to more than $2 billion in assets by buying up other banks.