Capitol Bancorp Nears Colorado Exit With Planned Bank Sale

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. is getting closer to exiting Colorado with an agreement to sell Mountain View Bank of Commerce.

The company said in a Wednesday press release that NBC Bancshares in Lincoln, Neb., had agreed to buy Mountain View, which is based in Westminster, Colo., for an undisclosed sum. Capitol said it expects to complete the sale later this year, completing a two-year quest to shed all its banks and $300 million of assets in Colorado.

In fact, this is the second time that Capitol, which has dual headquarters in Phoenix and Lansing, Mich., has reached an agreement to sell the $54.7 million-asset Mountain View. In December 2009, Capitol agreed to sell the bank to Cherry Hills Founders Group, a Colorado-based investor group.

Last year, the company sold Fort Collins Commerce Bank, Larimer Bank of Commerce and Loveland Bank of Commerce as part of a broad initiative to shed banks, shrink its balance sheet and build capital.

This is not the first time that the $3.2 billion-asset Capitol has salvaged a sale after the first agreement fell through. Earlier this month, the company agreed to sell a $50 million-asset bank in Texas to Veritex Holdings Inc. after another deal inked in March was not completed.