Looking to shore up capital, HomeStreet Inc. in Seattle is pursuing a public offering for up to $210 million.
The $2.4 billion-asset company said late Friday that it had filed a registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking approval to start selling stock in July. It has not yet set a price.
HomeStreet has raised capital levels slightly, but it is still considered to be only "adequately capitalized." At Dec. 31, its total risk-based capital was 9.15%. Credit quality has improved as well. At Dec. 31, 8.67% of its loans were past due, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data, down from more than 18% a year earlier.
HomeStreet plans to use proceeds from the IPO to strengthen its capital base and improve regulatory capital at its HomeStreet Bank, among other things.
