Veteran Denver banker Stephen Baltz has agreed to sell United Banks of Colorado to BOK Financial Corp., parent of Colorado State Bank and Trust, the two companies announced Wednesday.
Baltz, his wife and two daughters will receive $43 million in the sale – not a bad return for the $1 million in capital that funded the bank’s launch in 1983.
“We came from really poor families,” said Baltz, describing how he and his wife started out with $100 after getting married.
The couple renovated run-down residential properties in California and pinched their pennies before moving to Colorado in the mid-’70s to be closer to the slopes.
Baltz said the sale provides diversification for customers of First United, a $173.3 million bank that focused aggressively on real-estate development and construction loans. United Banks of Colorado is the parent company of First United.
The bank’s high-net-worth customers also will gain access to BOK’s extensive trust operations. Business customers will be able to take out larger loans.
For Colorado State Bank and Trust, First United offered 11 locations in Denver and Colorado Springs, a significant jump from the six it currently operates.
“One of our shortcomings was a limited branching network,” said Colorado State Bank chairman and chief executive Greg Symons. “When you overlay First United’s network on ours, it is a great fit.”
Baltz said five other banks vied for First United, including one that outbid BOK. But Baltz said he couldn’t think of another bank he wanted to sell to.
Baltz’s father was from Oklahoma, the state where BOK – shorthand for Bank of Oklahoma – got its start. He also knew the bankers behind the old Colorado State Bank and Trust, interviewing for a job that he declined to take in the 1980s.
Colorado State Bank has about 145 employees and more than $1 billion in assets. First United has about 100 staff.
Symons said no locations will close because of the acquisition. Since BOK took over Colorado State Bank in 2003, the bank’s asset base has nearly tripled and net income risen by about tenfold.
At 65, Baltz still jet skis and is sorting out what he will do next. “I could do anything.”
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
