A single-branch bank in Lakewood has revealed that it received — and promptly rejected — an unexpected offer to purchase it for $70 million, modestly bumping up its stock price.
“The board (of directors) received this unsolicited offer and found it to be grossly inadequate,” Solera National Bank, at 319 S. Sheridan Blvd., explained in a news release Oct. 30.
The offer letter was sent by Davi Cancado A. Cunha of Eleva Rewards, a Brazilian tech firm. He declined to discuss his bid for the bank and Solera’s decision to publicize it.
Solera opened in 2006 with a focus on Hispanic customers but has shifted its focus to the aviation industry in more recent years. That includes owning a small fleet of its own aircraft, which it leases to flight schools and from which it also receives significant tax benefits.
That is the source of an ongoing lawsuit from local investors Rob and Lola Salazar, who believe the bank and its colorful CEO, Michael Quagliano, have squandered $20 million on planes and helicopters, at least in part to shepherd Quagliano to Denver Nuggets games in style. Quagliano has repeatedly denied that and defended the bank’s aircraft business as profitable.
Meanwhile, the bank has reportedly been doing well. Its net income of $6.5 million in the third quarter represented a 19% increase over the same period a year ago and set a company record high, Solera says.
A day after announcing its Q3 numbers, Solera published Cunha’s undated offer letter.
“This proposal offers a prompt, certain and well-capitalized path to a transaction that protects the interests of the company’s stakeholders, preserves franchise value and positions the bank for operational and capital improvement under experienced stewardship,” the letter says.
Cunha wrote that he and other “co-investors comprised of institutional partners” were ready to pay cash and form a Delaware LLC, Project Sun Holdings, that would own Solera. He called $70 million a “firm, single-number offer” and a 70% premium over the bank’s stock price.
That price was $9.54 at the time but has increased since. Solera National Bancorp’s share price jumped 10% on the day it released the offer, from $12.40 to $13.70.
Cunha’s offer was supposed to remain a secret, according to his letter, which stresses that it “shall be treated as strictly private and confidential” and should never “be disclosed to any person” other than Solera advisers without Cunha’s consent.
Solera executives declined to discuss the offer with BusinessDen. So did Jordan Wright, a board member who advised calling the offer “inadequate” in the news release.
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