Wells Financial Corp. of Wells, Minn., is planning to go private to get out from under the regulatory requirements of being a public company.
Shareholders in the $223.4 million-asset company can sell their shares now through Oct. 29 in a modified Dutch auction for between $29.50 and $31.50 in cash. Once the offer expires, Wells would select the lowest price that would allow it to buy up to 150,000 shares.
The plan was announced Tuesday. Wells wants to reduce its number of shareholders to below 300; if the Dutch auction does not accomplish this, Wells would initiate a reverse stock split. It said it wants to deregister from public listing so it does not have to file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
At least two other banking companies have announced plans this year to go private. The number of banking companies going private has increased since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002. The banks that are going private say the administrative troubles of finding two auditors and preparing additional reports, and the costs that go along with these tasks, make being publicly traded more trouble than it is worth.
