Proposed North Carolina de novo seeks to raise $30M

Spirit Community Bank, a proposed de novo in Statesville, N.C., is seeking to raise $30 million in an initial stock offering.

Organizers said in a press release Thursday that they are now offering the public up to 3 million shares of its common stock at $10 per share. The offering is scheduled to close when all of the shares are sold, or by Sept. 30.

The group still needs regulatory approval. Organizers filed an application with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks in March.

Organizers are hoping to open the bank's doors this fall with its headquarters in Statesville, about 45 miles north of Charlotte. Spirit would be the first new bank in North Carolina since 2009.

“We are pleased that Spirit Community Bank has received such a positive initial response,” William Long, who would be the bank’s president and CEO, said in the press release. “We look forward to completing the share offering within a short period of time.”

There are currently three other groups looking to form new banks in North Carolina, including Community Bank of the Carolinas in Winston-Salem and American Bank & Trust in Monroe. Blue Ridge Bankshares in Luray, Va., also filed an application to start a new bank in Greensboro called Carolina State Bank.