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Bank investor Kenneth Lehman plans to buy a controlling stake in Marine Bank & Trust Co. in Vero Beach, Fla.
November 27 -
The investigation's nickname is "Operation Choke Point," and that seems appropriate, because a noose appears to be tightening around the necks of banks that have ties to online payday lenders.
January 22 -
Ken Lehman is buying outsized stakes in community banks, using his personal funds and often introducing himself to CEOs with a direct phone call.
February 22 -
Operation Choke Point prosecutors were poised to resolve their first lawsuit against a bank, but then they ran into a federal judge in North Carolina with a fondness for citing "The Sopranos" and a deep skepticism of financial services and the settlement deal.
March 19
Four Oaks Fincorp (FOFN) in Four Oaks, N.C., could raise more than $27 million in a securities agreement and rights offering.
The $820 million-asset Four Oaks
Lehman has agreed to buy 875,000 shares of Four Oaks' common stock at $1 each. The company will then hold a rights offering for existing shareholders, including Lehman, in the second quarter. Four Oaks plans to sell up to 26.5 million shares of stock at $1 each as part of the rights offering.
Shareholders will have the right to buy three shares of stock for each share they already own. Lehman will have the opportunity to buy roughly 2.6 million shares in the rights offering, boosting his potential ownership to 3.5 million shares.
If there is any stock left over from the rights offering, Lehman has agreed to buy 10 million shares, including those he already owns. He could raise his total ownership in Four Oaks to 16 million shares, unless his stake would put the company's deferred tax asset at risk via a change in ownership.
The stock sale will provide Four Oaks with a shot of much-needed capital. The company is operating under a
Lehman, a former banking lawyer, has emerged as a key community bank investor in recent years, buying large chunks of lenders including Liberty Bell Bank (LBBB) Marlton, N.J.; Delmar Bancorp in Salisbury, Md.; Marine Bank & Trust in Vero Beach, Fla.; and First Capital (FCVA) in Glen Allen, Va.
Sandler O'Neill was Four Oaks' financial advisor.
