CrossFirst in Kansas Raises $22M

CrossFirst Holdings in Leawood, Kan., has wrapped up a $22 million private placement.

The $560 million-asset company now has approximately 500 shareholders with a total of $71 million invested, it said Wednesday. The sale, which closed on March 31, is the company's fifth raise since its 2007 founding.

"We are fortunate to have an outstanding group of individuals who continue to invest in CrossFirst and serve as a referral source for other private investors in our area," said Ron Baldwin, chairman and chief executive of CrossFirst, in the news release.

The new capital adds to an already robust capital position. At the end of 2012, the bank's leverage ratio was 10.88%. The company didn't specify in the release how it plans to use the proceeds.

CrossFirst has four branches in Kansas and Oklahoma. Last year, it announced it would buy the troubled $110 million-asset Heartland Bank, also based in Leawood, in its first acquisition. That deal, however, fell through and Heartland failed in July 2012.