Is It Time to Expand Your Shareholder Base?

With growth often comes new shareholders. When Steven Shelton helped form California BanCorp in 2007, most of the initial capital came from businessmen in the community surrounding Oakland, California. There was only one institutional investor in the mix. But when it came time to raise more capital seven years later, most of the original investors were content with their initial stake, says Shelton, the bank’s president and CEO. So instead, executives turned to additional institutional investors. California BanCorp’s growth and success led to two more capital raises, in 2016 and 2018. Again, the holding company tapped institutional investors. The evolution…