Ex-CU Raises $70M As It Goes Public

As officials with and opponents of Columbia Credit Union's bid to convert to a bank were still awaiting a ruling from regulators last week, Synergy Financial Group, the converted credit union once known as Synergy FCU, raised $70-million with an initial public offering of seven-million common shares. Top officers of the credit union convert participated in market opening ceremonies at the NASDAQ Stock Market Wednesday to commemorate the company's new listing on the exchange. The ex-credit union, chartered in 1952, converted to a mutual savings bank in 1998, then to a hybrid structure, selling a minority stake to the public a year ago, with a holding company retaining a controlling stake. But the ex-credit union completed the conversion to a publicly traded company last week by selling the remaining shares, becoming the seventh credit union convert to make the journey.