VideoLess than six years after going public, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Coddle Creek Financial Corp. wants to be private again, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.
Earlier this month it began offering a modest premium to buy the holdings of owners of 99 or fewer shares. The goal is to reduce the number of shareholders below 300 so the company can deregister its common stock with the SEC and become a private company.
Rising costs for compliance with the new rules on corporate accountability and their stringent reporting requirements are the leading reasons, according to the newspaper, citing company officials.
George Brawley Jr., the chairman, president, and chief executive of the $24 million company, told the paper that Coddle Creek's auditing expenses have risen significantly, and that the company has been advised that compliance is going to become even more costly next year and beyond. Brawley added that Coddle Creek would continue as a public company had it not been for Sarbanes-Oxley.
He also thinks this will be the beginning of a trend. "I feel it has not been a failed experience," Brawley told the paper, commenting on his years with the publicly traded company. "It has made us more recognized. More people are interested in the bank and how we do. It got us out from being an easy-going savings bank to being more active in our community and promoting ourselves."
When Coddle Creek is again a private company — and not dealing with regulators — he and his team will have more time to meet and serve their customers, Brawley told the paper.
Coddle Creek went public in late 1997 and traded at nearly $85 in early 1998. It closed Friday around $35.
Former Arthur Andersen Business Does Well by Sarbanes-Oxley
While one small bank is bemoaning the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, at least one other company clearly likes it.
Staffing company Robert Half International Inc. reported that revenues at its Protiviti consulting subsidiary more than doubled to $38.1 million, from $17.8 million in the third quarter of 2002, while revenue for the first nine months this year nearly quadrupled year-over-year.
RHI bought the former Arthur Andersen risk-consulting business in May 2002 and renamed it Protiviti.
"Protiviti continued to attract a significant number of new clients, with projects ranging from Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance to regulatory and forensic investigations, technology security and the establishment of new internal audit functions," said Harold M. Messmer, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of RHI, in a statement.
Short Takes
- Northrop Grumman Corp. said Charles H. Noski, who currently sits on its board of directors, will become corporate vice president and chief financial officer, effective December 1, 2003, succeeding Richard B. Waugh Jr., who is retiring.
Noski will remain a director at Northrop. Last month he was nominated to the board of Microsoft Corp.
Noski retired from AT&T in November 2002 after having joined the company in December 1999 as senior executive vice president and chief financial officer. He was elected vice chairman of the board of AT&T in early 2002 and was responsible for broad aspects of the company's strategy and operations. Prior to joining AT&T, Noski was president and chief operating officer and a member of the board of directors of Hughes Electronics Corp.
- Black & Decker Corp. said its board of directors approved a 75 percent increase in the company's common stock dividend. A company spokeswoman cited recent tax law changes that make dividends more attractive for investors, according to Reuters. She also said Black & Decker's payout ratio has been relatively low compared with its peers and noted that the company had not changed its dividend since 1996.
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