Picture this:
You're six months into a confidential bank sale.
Multiple buyers are interested.
Terms look great.
Then your phone rings.
"I heard you might be selling," says a competitor.
"We're hiring if any of your people want new opportunities."
Your heart sinks.
Word is out.
You...
You trust your general counsel.
They've helped you through regulations, loan problems, and legal challenges for years.
When it's time to sell your bank, your first thought is probably to use them.
That could be a costly mistake.
Why Banking Lawyers Aren't Bank Sale Lawyers
Your general co...
You walked into that first buyer meeting feeling confident.
You knew your bank inside and out.
You had good chemistry with the potential buyer.
But something went wrong.
They seemed interested at first, then cooled off.
The follow-up meeting never happened.
The deal died before it sta...
The phone call comes from your investment banker:
"We have three serious buyers who want to meet with you."
Your heart pounds.
This is it…
The moment everything you've built gets judged by strangers who could become your bank's new owners.
Everybody is counting on you to deliver.
Y...
You've made the decision to explore selling your bank.
You've hired an investment banker.
The board is ready to test the market.
Now comes the question that keeps you awake at night: "Who's actually interested in buying us?"
Here's how smart money finds out—without letting the whole indust...
Picture this:
Your board meeting is running late.
You've covered loan committee reports, regulatory updates, and budget reviews.
Then you drop the bomb:
"I think we should explore selling the bank."
The room goes silent.
Board members exchange worried glances.
Someone asks, "Is the bank...
Your most important job as a bank CEO might surprise you:
Make yourself replaceable.
Sounds backward, right?
But this surprising truth is key to making your bank worth more.
Why Your Bank Needs to Work Without You
Let me be straight with you:
If your bank can't run smoothly without yo...
What truly drives your bank's value?
And what secretly chips away at it?
While this isn't a complete list, these are the most critical factors that potential buyers examine when valuing your bank.
The 5 Bank Value Builders
1) Consistent Core Earnings
This is by far the most powerful va...
We all know how it works...
If you really want to buy something, you'll find a way to justify the purchase.
The same is true when selling.
If you're determined to sell, you'll find reasons why it makes sense.
This is where valuation becomes so important.
It slows everything down.
V...
Wondering when to sell your bank?
It's the question every bank CEO eventually faces.
The best advice I know comes from NYU Finance professor Aswath Damodaran and his famous story about lemmings.
This simple story perfectly captures why so many bank sales happen at exactly the wrong time.
...
Every bank sale is unique, just like the bank itself and the leaders who built it.
But I've found that successful bank sales follow a pattern.
This pattern matches what author Bo Burlingham describes in his book "Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top."
Burlingham f...
Let's talk about something every bank CEO struggles with when considering a sale: the mental shift from being a builder to being a seller.
Here's what typically happens in your mind:
"Here's my bank. What will you give me for it?"
Simple, right? You've built something valuable, now it...
