Don't Jump Off the Cliff: How Smart Bank CEOs Time Their Bank Sale Perfectly

 

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.

 ...

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Scale Matters: Why Your Lending Limits Are Hiding Your Bank's True Value

 

Your bank has untapped growth potential locked inside it right now.

Potential that you can see clearly but haven't been able to fully capture due to your current size constraints.

Want to maximize your bank's value in a potential sale?

Start by thinking beyond your current limitations.

 

The...

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Think Like a Buyer: How to Reverse Engineer Your Way to Your Hidden Value

 

What if I told you that thinking like a buyer is the key to getting the best price for your bank?

 

Here's a powerful exercise that changed how we saw our own bank's value:

Reverse engineering the perfect acquisition.

 

The Magic Wand Exercise

Imagine you have a magic wand that lets you buy...

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The Right Focus for Bank Exit Success: A Community Bank CEO's Roadmap

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...

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Community Bank Value Through Consistency: The Systems and Leadership Blueprint

 

Here's a simple truth:

You only sell your bank once, but you need to build its value every day.

 

Selling a bank isn't like selling a house.

You can't just add a fresh coat of paint and expect top dollar (see The Savvy Banker 064 – "Community Bank Hiring Success: 5 Strategic Steps That Maximi...

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Community Bank Hiring Success: 5 Strategic Steps That Maximize Your Exit Value

 

"You only sell your bank once."

I hear CEOs say this when they put off preparing for a sale.

But the truth is simple: While you sell just once, you need to build value every day.

 

Early in my career, investment bankers taught me something important:

The best bank sales happen because of sma...

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The Ultimate Bank Value Builder: Why Your Leadership Team Matters More Than You Think

 

Let me share a counterintuitive truth about bank leadership:

Your most important job as CEO is to make yourself replaceable.

 

I've seen too many community bank leaders who believe their personal involvement in every decision is the path to success.

They're wrong.

And if you're planning a po...

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The Prepared Community Bank CEO: 7 Tips for Building Stable Confidence

 

What separates successful bank sales from disappointments?

It's not market timing.

It's not luck.

And it's certainly not the latest M&A trend.

 

It's preparation.

When you're prepared, two things happen: your decisions become more confident, and the entire process seems to "slow down" – all...

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Bank Mergers: The deal closed. 3 Ways to consider celebrating.

 

The deal closed.

There are a whole host of emotions.

How do you celebrate?

And, with whom?

 

Management Team

It’s important to celebrate this milestone with your team and to affirm their transformation into the value-driven leaders they have become.

Sadly, many leaders are so competitive w...

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Bank Mergers: Selling CEO – embrace new duties for a fresh start.

 

The deal closed.

The bank you were CEO of, and the holding company (if applicable) no longer exist.

 

The duties you had related to the distribution of the merger consideration will remain until they have been fully disbursed.

 

Employees and customers begin to look beyond your authority to ...

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Bank Mergers: The deal closed. Proudly promote your new prowess.

 

In addition to the organic customer calling that has taken place since the announcement, you will have a customer calling blitz as well.

That is a concentrated effort to go to the customer’s place of business for a face- to-face meeting.

The goal of the calling blitz is to make certain you can ...

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Bank Mergers: The deal closed. How does the conversion of shares work?

 

The deal has closed, the signs have changed, and as you can imagine, the shareholders are interested in when they receive the merger consideration.

 

When selling a home, the documents get signed and the keys are exchanged for the sales proceeds.

 

This transaction isn’t that simple, so commu...

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