'Quick courtship'

Longtime area banker Charlie Brown celebrated his recent 50th birthday with a big-time present to himself: He orchestrated the sale of the bank he founded and has run since 2006, Sarasota-based Insignia Bank.

Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank, in its 10th planned acquisition in the last seven years, bought Insignia Bank for $36.5 million, or $13.52 per share of Insignia common stock. The deal, announced Aug. 25, represents about 1.48 times Insignia's tangible book value through June 30, according to a statement.

The merger with Stonegate is a significant victory for Brown and Insignia's board and shareholders, given how most community banks founded in the mid-2000s struggled to overcome low capital levels and underperforming loans. Brown says the timing, for Insignia at least, was a key component to its decade-long success, in that it missed the first few years of the downturn. “We took our fair share of bumps and bruises,” says Brown, “but our timing was the most fortunate thing.”