The moment you've been waiting for finally arrives.
Five written offers for your bank sit on your desk.
Your heart pounds as you scan the numbers.
One offer looks amazing—until you read the fine print.
Another seems low but has no strings attached.
A third promises stock that could be ...
After months of preparation, meetings, and mountains of paperwork, the moment finally arrives.
Your investment banker calls with news: "The offers are in."
You feel the weight of the moment.
This is it—the moment you find out what the market really thinks your life's work is worth.
W...
The investment banker calls with exciting news:
"We have eight banks interested in buying you."
Your heart races.
Eight serious buyers means competition.
Competition means better terms and higher prices.
But here's what no one tells you:
Not all interested buyers are actually interest...
The moment you hand over your customer list to a potential buyer, your stomach knots up.
What if they don't buy your bank?
What if they take this information and use it against you?
What if they start calling your best customers or try to hire your top employees?
You're trusting strangers ...
Your investment banker just called with good news—three serious buyers want to move forward.
Then reality hits:
They want detailed information about everything.
Hundreds of documents.
Thousands of questions.
Who can you trust with this sensitive information?
How do you keep your sale ...
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...
Here's a fact that will shock you:
Many community bank CEOs choose their investment banker the same way they choose lunch – by convenience.
The result?
Deals that fall apart, values that disappoint, and CEOs who realize too late they picked the wrong partner for the biggest transaction o...
Sometimes the best strategy is the one you never saw coming.
In 2017, we were hunting for banks to buy.
By 2022, we were the ones getting bought—and it was the best decision we ever made.
Here's the story of how we built a bank so strong that when plans changed, we had options.
And why ...
Every bank director knows they have a duty to shareholders.
But when it comes time to sell your bank, that duty gets put to the ultimate test.
Here's the uncomfortable truth:
Many directors think they're doing right by shareholders when they're actually falling short of their legal responsi...
