By Bryant Ruiz Switzky
WashingtonFirst Bankshares Inc. has raised $25 million in a private offering and plans to file initial public offering papers with federal regulators Aug. 10 in preparation for its purchase of Alliance Bankshares Inc.
Unlike last year’s deal between Chantilly-based Alliance and Bethesda-based Eagle Bancorp Inc., where the banks walked away before agreeing on final terms, the new deal, announced in May for a price of $24.4 million, appears poised to close. The closing is expected in November.
“You need to be in the billion-dollar range to be a player in this market,” said Shaza Andersen, CEO of Reston-based WashingtonFirst. “This acquisition will put us over $1 billion, so I’m very excited about it.”
So are her investors. The bank, which will have $1.1 billion in assets post merger, hoped to raise $20 million to pay for the acquisition, but a rush of investors ponied up $37 million.
“We had to give money back,” Andersen said. “We wound up taking $25 million.”
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