For Houston’s newest public bank, timing was everything. Cadence Bancorporation executives were forced to table their initial public offering for more than two years as they waited for oil prices to stabilize and the market to improve.
“We probably could have gone public, but it would have been really hard,” chairman and CEO Paul Murphy said.
Those plans were revitalized last week when Cadence Bancorporation launched an IPO for 7.5 million shares priced at $20 each. The first share traded for $22.05 on April 13 under the symbol “CADE” on the New York Stock Exchange, and it closed Thursday at $22.20.
Bank executives will celebrate publicly on Friday by ringing the opening bell for the NYSE.
“It’s an exciting time,” Murphy said. “Morale at our bank is sky high.”
And experts say it’s a good time for the banking industry. Stabilized oil prices are helping banks locally, and rising interest rates and hopes of reduced regulations have boosted bank stocks across the country.
“I think given the current banking environment and regulatory environment and Texas economy, they did time it well,” said Dan Bass, managing director of investment banking for bank advisory firm Performance Trust Capital Partners.
Cadence Bancorporation, with $9.5 billion in assets, is the holding company for Cadence Bank. The regional bank operates 65 locations in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
Bass said being a publicly traded bank…