Bank, after seven years, lands $10M investment

A seven-year effort to raise capital at Sarasota-based Bank of Commerce has culminated with a $10 million investment from a Tennessee businessman with holdings in health care companies and other banks.

The investor, according to a statement, is Byron DeFoor from Chattanooga. Entities where DeFoor holds an ownership stake include Grace Healthcare, which operates more than 40 skilled nursing home facilities; Contemporary Healthcare Capital, which provides financing to health care companies; Millennium Bank, which primarily serves the Chattanooga area; and Gastonia, N.C.-based AB&T Financial Co., parent company of Alliance Bank and Trust.

DeFoor is now a majority owner of Bank of Commerce, which had $209 million in assets through June 30. “We are pleased our perseverance in raising capital has finally paid off,” president and CEO Charlie Murphy says in the release.