Friday, December 17, 2004

Nicolet decides to privatize

Green Bay-based Nicolet Bankshares Inc. said it plans to go private to save as much as $400,000 a year in government compliance costs, according to securities documents filed Friday.

Nicolet is at least the third bank holding company in Wisconsin this year to make such a move in order to avoid paying the additional costs of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements. The law, passed after accounting fraud led to the collapse of Enron Corp. and other companies, hits small companies particularly hard, according to its critics.

Many other small companies probably are looking at going private, said one corporate securities lawyer.

“If they’re not looking at that possibility, I’d be surprised,” said Steven R. Barth at Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner LLP.

Nicolet and the other banking companies that are going private - First Banking Center Inc. in Burlington and Blackhawk Bancorp Inc. in Beloit - are trying to reduce their shareholder roles below 300 so they do not have to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nicolet decides to privatize

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