John Delaney's Forbright valued at roughly $900 million in Nasdaq debut

By Arasu Kannagi Basil ‌and Atharva Singh

June ​11 (Reuters) - ​Forbright, founded by former U.S. Representative John Delaney, closed 0.6% higher in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday after raising $142 million in ‌the first U.S. bank IPO this year.

Chevy Chase, Maryland-based Forbright shares ⁠opened at $17.50 apiece and closed at $18.10, giving the firm a market value of nearly $900 million.

June ‌is off to a busy ‌start for the IPO market as a slew of issuers rushed to list ahead of SpaceX's imminent blockbuster listing to avoid competing for investor ​attention.

Investors appear to have overlooked Forbright "with all the focus on SpaceX," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused ⁠research and ETFs, adding that overlooked deals can sometimes be winners in the long run.

"In terms of ​deal heat, bank IPOs are not the sexiest debuts either," added Kennedy.

Forbright traces its history to Congressional Bank, established in ​2003 as a community bank serving the ‌Washington D.C. area. Its platform now spans middle-market lending, digital consumer banking, strategic advisory and asset management.

The bank sold 7.9 ⁠million shares in the IPO at the low end of the marketed range of $18 to $20 each. It had a net tangible book value of roughly $19.14 per share ⁠as of March 31.

Delaney, Forbright's CEO, served three terms representing Maryland in the U.S. House ​before leaving Congress in 2019 to pursue an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination.

Forbright's growth accelerated after Delaney returned to the private sector. He led a $369 ‌million equity infusion in 2021 from investors including Centerbridge Partners, Gallatin Point Capital and Bayview Asset Management.

Delaney previously founded ‌and led two New York-listed companies — HealthCare Financial Partners and CapitalSource.

"The growth story ⁠is what sells the deal. ‌That and the involvement from ​Delaney and institutional backers," Kennedy said.

(Reporting by Atharva Singh and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and ‌Vijay Kishore)

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