Capital Bank plans to become Encore
Capital Bancshares, a Little Rock financial institution that is the parent of The Capital Bank, said on Monday that it plans to change its name to Encore Bank, is raising capital and has hired three new executives.
The bank hired Chris Roberts as chairman and chief executive officer, Phillip Jett as vice chairman and president, and Burt Hicks as chief operating officer and director.
Roberts is formerly an executive vice president with Simmons Bank. Jett was an executive with Iberiabank, and Hicks was an executive with Simmons.
The bank has not been sold, Roberts said.
"Recently our shareholders approved a $50 million capital raise to fund future growth and expansion," Roberts said.
The bank, which has $160 million in assets, is in the process of trying to raise as much as $50 million, according to a memorandum. It will offer up to 298,027 shares at $167.77 per share to individual or institutional investors.
If as much as $13.5 million is raised, $3.8 million will be used to purchase shares of existing shareholders. The offering expires March 5, 2020.
Troy Duke resigned last month as Capital Bank's chief executive, the memorandum said.
-- David Smith
Downtown LR chief picked for program
Gabe Holmstrom, executive director of the Downtown Little Rock Partnership, is one of 30 professionals chosen to participate in the International Downtown Association's 2019 Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program.
The program began in 2016 and brings together urban-district management professionals to develop leadership and management skills and gain practical tools in economic development, the "live-work-play" experience, and public-private partnerships.
Holmstrom, 42, a Cabot native, has headed the Downtown Little Rock Partnership since 2015. Previously, he served as chief of staff for the Arkansas House of Representatives, worked in advertising and served as a spokesman for the Arkansas attorney general's office.
The Downtown Little Rock Partnership is a nonprofit organization with a mission to promote downtown growth.
-- Noel Oman
Index jumps 7.64, finishes at 410.79
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, jumped 7.64 to 410.79 Monday.
"U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, after five straight down days, led by gains in technology shares and despite a fall in shares of Boeing after a fatal crash in Ethiopia limited gains on the Dow," said Chris Harkins, managing director with Raymond James & Associates in Little Rock.
Total volume for the index was 17.2 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 03/12/2019