Granite Bancshares has been established to take advantage of the greater financial flexibility this designation affords. A majority of the bank’s shareholders approved the conversion to a holding company structure. Granite Bancshares will be utilizing the services of Illinois Stock Transfer Company to facilitate the exchange, and to act as the transfer agent for the company.
Kirk Doyle, chairman of the board of Granite, said: One of the benefits of having a holding company is the ability to raise capital without diluting shareholder value through issuing trust preferred securities. Using the holding company will also give us the ability, if we choose, to repurchase our own stock thereby creating more liquidity for our shareholders.
