Industry Bancshares in Industry, Texas, which has been embroiled in a battle with one of its regulators, is being recapitalized.
The $5.1 billion-asset company said in a press release that it is raising $195 million by selling common stock to a group led by CSBH LLC. The lead investor is the holding company of New Horizon Bank, a Powhatan, Va., bank it bought and recapitalized in 2021.
Industry’s board voted last November to raise more capital.
Carl Chaney, a former president and CEO of Hancock Whitney, was named Industry’s executive chairman, while Brian Hobart, former chief lending officer at Independent Financial, was named CEO.
Chaney, who also serves on the board of MidWestOne Financial Group in Iowa City, was chairman of Beach Bancorp in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., when it was sold to First Bancshares. Meanwhile, Independent Financial recently agreed to sell itself to SouthState in Winter Haven, Fla.
The stock sale “is a testament to the direction, ambition and values of our company, including its six bank subsidiaries,” J. Doak Hartley, Industry’s president, said in the release. “The agreement provides additional capital to support our focus on serving our customers and communities with the exceptional experience they have come to expect.”
“Industry plays a vital role in its communities; serving households, businesses, farmers and ranchers, municipalities and nonprofits,” Uriel Cohen, founder and director of CSBH, said in the release. “We have seen the passion Industry has for its customers and communities, and we eagerly anticipate working together to build upon the exceptional legacy Industry has established in its markets.”
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees three of Industry’s banks, issued cease-and-desist orders stating that the company was in a “troubled condition.” The regulator said that Industry’s strategy of investing in long-term bonds “resulted in excessive concentration risk.”
The OCC also cited Industry’s vulnerability to changes in interest rates and “liquidity exposures” because the company had become dependent on “funding sources that may not be available” if there was more financial stress.
“The board and management were slow to recognize the sustained increase in interest rates and failed to enact meaningful corrective measures to address the effects of rising interest rates over the past 18 months,” the OCC added.
Industry’s executives refused to sign the OCC’s agreements.
Industry, which is dealing with underwater bonds, argued that the C&D orders were unnecessary because it was already working to address the agency’s concerns. The company called the orders “regulatory overreach” and stated that was looking to have the issue addressed by an administrative law judge.
Hovde Group and Alston & Bird advised Industry on its stock sale. Clear Street and Baker Donelson advised CBSH.