Bridgehampton National Bank Raises $23 Million From Institutional Investors
We’ve all seen those wonderful advertisements about Bridgehampton National Bank touting the many success stories that its lending has provided to some of the finest businesses out here in the Hamptons. Well the bank itself just received some pretty big news regarding this week.
The company announced has just announced that it has entered into definitive purchase agreements to sell directly to institutional and other private investors a total of 1.377 million shares of its common stock at a price of $17.50 per share. Effectively raising $23 million of private capital.
The recent investment into the bank by private and institutional investors certainly shows that there is plenty of money out there for companies doing it right. In a world where many banks are struggling to raise capital, Bridgehampton National Bank has been able to grow, and grow significantly.
Kevin O’Conner, the CEO of Bridgehampton National Bank, explained to me over the telephone in an interview, “This is very good news for us. In the economy today, banks are having a hard time raising capital, but we’ve been able to really grow our organization. In the last four years we’ve been able to double in size, open five new branches, and do what banks are supposed to do, which is lend responsibly to the community. This has also helped us maintain a stronger relationship with bank regulators as well. Our growth and this investment is really a testament to the business community in which we serve.”
The bank, because of its growth and future opportunities that it presents, has drawn the attention, and capital, of some very serious private investors. “We’ve been speaking with potential investors and investment bankers over the last three weeks and investors immediately saw what we are doing and they like what we are doing,” Mr. O’Conner explained. “This will allow us to continue to grow and continue to give loans, which is our focused goal. We’ve really been able to fill a niche in providing loans and deposit services to small and medium sized companies on Long Island, as a Long Island bank.”
The continuing success story of Bridgehampton National Bank seems to reflect the success stories of the customers that they serve, and they are keeping it local, with the entire management team of the bank being local to Long Island. “People like dealing with a bank that within their community and that gets it,” Kevin said.