Defying a difficult market, Cape Bancorp Inc. in Cape May Court House, N.J., announced late Monday that it has sold the minimum number of shares required to close its initial public offering.
Completing the IPO would clear the way for Cape Bancorp to close its deal to acquire Boardwalk Bancorp Inc. of Linwood, N.J.
The parent company of the $620 million-asset Cape Savings Bank said that the mutual-to-stock conversion and the $101 million acquisition of Boardwalk would close Thursday.
Cape Bancorp had announced its plan to go public and acquire the $450 million-asset Boardwalk in July.
The IPO was extended to the general public after Cape failed to sell enough shares to depositors and community members to complete the offering. However, unlike several thrift companies that have had to terminate public offerings in recent weeks amid weak demand for thrift stocks, Cape was able to sell enough shares to close the offering at its minimum appraised value.
Cape sold 5,069,132 shares of stock, at $10 each, in the syndicated stage of the offering, raising the total to 7.8 million shares.
The shares are expected to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CBNJ.
