Bramble Savings Bank plans stock sale, capital hike

Business Courier of Cincinnati, Steve Watkins, Friday, August 20, 2010
Investors are less interested in those deals than in a deal involving a bank that will use investors’ money to grow. Bramble’s financials would make it a tough sell to the public, if the private deal falters.

"It doesn’t sound like a very good potential investment," said Francis Gaskins, president of Los Angeles-based IPO analysis firm IPOdesktop.com.

Bank conversions to stock are relatively rare. Fifteen deals have occurred nationally this year, Mathews said. Just 16 deals got done the last two years combined. An average of 24 a year took place in the four years before that.

Cheviot Financial Corp., the parent of Cheviot Savings Bank, raised $44 million in a partial conversion from mutual to stock ownership in 2004. That’s one of the more recent to take place locally.

Cheviot CEO Tom Linneman couldn’t discuss any interest his bank has in buying Bramble, although it sounds as though he’s looked at it.
"I’m under an agreement where I can’t discuss that," he said.