With eye toward growth, Tacoma’s Commencement Bank begins public stock sales on OTCQX marketplace

If you’ve been looking for a convenient way to buy – or sell – stock in Tacoma-based Commencement Bank, life just got a little bit easier.

Commencement Bank stock began trading Thursday (June 25) on the OTCQX marketplace under the ticker symbol CBWA.

The move to public trading carries two immediate benefits, said Commencement Bank President and CEO Hal Russell.

“It provides some liquidity in the stock,” he said. “We’re coming up on our ninth anniversary. We’ve been contemplating how to create utility – some shareholders have been asking for that – and secondly, it’s a tool that we think we will be able to use when we acquire other institutions.”

Previously, stock sales and purchases were made through the bank itself. With the chance to offer stock on a publicly traded market, more investors could become interested and any acquisitions would be easier to underwrite.

“We’re interested in acquiring someone,” Russell said. “We’re talking to other community banks about that possibility.”

Given restrictions on public announcements early in the acquisition process, Russell was unable to offer details of any potential or ongoing negotiations.

Unlike an Initial Public Offering, placement on the OTCQX does not create a windfall for the company or shareholders, but rather it provides a general market to facilitate trading.

D.A. Davidson & Co., through its division Crowell, Weedon & Co., served as corporate broker for the deal.

This story was originally published June 25, 2015 at 2:06 PM with the headline "With eye toward growth, Tacoma’s Commencement Bank begins public stock sales on OTCQX marketplace ."