Triad Business Bank has sent Black-owned M&F four proposals aimed at keeping the lender in North Carolina, with its charter and minority depository institution status intact. Shareholders vote Nov. 4.

If there’s any aspect to business that’s a toss-up right now, a common refrain might be, “Wait and see what happens Nov. 3.” The date of the U.S. midterm election – and the potential power swing it wields – may bring certain short- and medium-term priorities into focus.

For a certain subset of bankers, though, the red-letter date may be Nov. 4. That’s when shareholders of one of the nation’s 20 Black-owned banks – Durham, North Carolina-based M&F – are set to vote on whether the lender will merge into Optus, another Black-owned bank, albeit out of state.

That prospect has irked Greensboro, North Carolina-based Triad Business Bank, which since August has made M&F four offers to counter Columbia, South Carolina-based Optus’ bid.

The latest, submitted Oct. 8, offers M&F shareholders $53.50 in cash for each share they own. If more than 25% of shareholders elect cash, the remainder will receive 1.25 new shares of the combined company per pre-transaction share.

By comparison, Optus’ proposal, announced in July, would give M&F holding company shareholders up to $53.30 per common share in cash. But only $46.57 per share would be payable at closing. The other $6.73 per share would follow if certain outstanding shares of preferred stock were to be repurchased within a year of the deal’s closing.

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