JLL Partners Fund FCH LP, a New York private-equity firm, has agreed to invest up to $150 million in FC Holdings Inc. of Houston, which said it would use the money to fund acquisitions and expand its subsidiary banks.
The investment is believed to be one of the largest by a private-equity firm in Texas banking history.
Nigel Harrison, its chairman and chief executive officer, founded FC Holdings in 2005 after Wells Fargo & Co. bought another company he founded, First Community Capital Corp., for $123 million, or nearly 5.4 times tangible book value.
The $400 million-asset FC Holdings was set up to acquire community banks. The plan is to sell the company in seven to 10 years.
It is the parent of the $126 million-asset First Community Bank of the Woodlands in Tomball, the $73 million-asset First Community Bank Fort Bend in Sugarland, the $87 million-asset First Community Bank San Antonio, and the $107 million-asset First Community Bank Central Texas in Meridian.
FC Holdings hired a former investment banker, Wade Schussler, to be its president this year. In May it announced an agreement to purchase the $148 million-asset First Crockett Bancshares
JLL Partners initially will invest $75 million and, at FC Holdings' request, has the right to invest up to $75 million more in common stock over the next three years.
Frank Rodriguez, managing director of JLL Partners, said in a press release, "We are highly impressed with Nigel's track record building banks in Texas and believe that FC Holdings has assembled an exceptional group of veteran bankers across the state in a remarkably short period of time."
