Gateway Financial Holdings Inc. of Virginia Beach said Friday that it plans to raise $30 million in a secondary stock offering and use part of the proceeds to fund branch expansion.
The $740 million-asset company is selling 2 million shares at $16 each. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. of New York is the sole bookrunner and has an option to buy an additional 300,000 shares if the offering is oversubscribed.
Gateway has 18 branches in Virginia and North Carolina, mostly in the coastal regions. It said earlier this month that it would open four to six branches in Wake County, in central North Carolina, in the next three years. It also plans to add branches in the Wilmington, N.C., and Williamsburg, Va., markets. Its first new branch is scheduled to open this month in Raleigh. Gateway has hired a team of former Central Carolina Bank executives to head its new Raleigh-area operation.
