Ex-Bank One chief McCoy joins board of N.C. bank in sudden tumult

First Capital Bancshares’ name hasn’t changed, but so many other things about the institution have.

The $76 million-asset company said in a press release Thursday that it has overhauled its board and brought in a new CEO. It also plans to move its holding company to Charleston, S.C., from Laurinburg, N.C.

First Capital's banking unit will remain in Laurinburg.

Frank Cole, a former chief financial officer at Carolina Financial, has been hired as the company's CEO. He succeeded Charles Rivers, who stepped down as CEO after 18 years at the helm. Rivers will stay with with company as its North Carolina market president and will remain on the bank's board.

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Aaron Brewer, most recently a city executive for TD Bank in Charleston, joined First Capital as its president. Matt Simpson, another former TD Bank executive, was named the company's chief credit officer.

As part of the board overhaul, Harvey Glick was brought in to become chairman, succeeding Paul Rush. Glick has an extensive banking background that includes stints as a managing director at Insignia Bank, which was bought by Stonegate Bank, and as executive chairman of Bank of the Carolinas, which was sold to Bank of the Ozarks.

Seven other directors were added, including John McCoy, the former chairman and CEO of Bank One.

First Capital plans to open an office in downtown Charleston this spring, said Glick, who also served as CEO of Insignia Bank from 2008 to 2014. “With the consolidation of small banks in Charleston, we saw a great opportunity for an opening here in the marketplace for a community bank,” he said in an interview.

Glick said that there are limited loan and deposit opportunities in Laurinburg, adding that the bank's board recognized that moving into a vibrant metro market would help the small bank expand its balance sheet.

First Capital, which has 25 employees, plans to focus on retail and business banking in Charleston, with an emphasis on small-business lending. Glick expects to add eight to 10 bankers to the Charleston team over time.

"We are here doing the bread-and-butter blocking and tackling," he said.

Charleston is one of the most attractive markets in the Southeast, with diverse and growing industries, said Lee Burrows, CEO of the Atlanta investment bank Banks Street Partners.

"It’s a competitive market, but all high-growth markets are competitive," Burrows said, pointing to a number of out-of-town banks with branches or loan production offices in Charleston. "If they have the right team that knows the Charleston market, I'm sure they’ll have an influence and make a dent. Banking is all about relationships and people."

The headquarters relocation comes two months after First Capital raised $30 million in a private placement. The company sold more than $30 million shares of common stock at $6.75 each to institutional and accredited investors.

“We are pleased with the response to our private placement,” Cole said in a press release announcing the capital raise. “The successful offering was a vote of confidence by the local investor community in the company’s plans to expand into the Charleston market. We believe this new capital will allow the company to continue to grow organically and will support the capital needs of the bank.”

The move is First Capital's second in three years. In 2015 the company moved to Laurinburg from Bennettsville, S.C. It still keeps an office in Bennettsville.

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