Pewaukee-based Foundations Bank will open a loan production office later this month in an approximate 1,000-square-foot office in Grafton at 1150 Washington St. The new loan production office will be Foundations Bank's first satellite branch aside from its headquarters and branch location in Pewaukee.

Banks typically open loan production offices before they enter a new market. Foundations Bank will likely apply to the state Department of Financial Institutions for permission to open a full-service branch by late spring or early summer, said Greg Kolton, president and chief executive officer of the bank.

Grafton, with its location in central Ozaukee County, will likely be the perfect location for Foundations Bank's first branch location, Kolton said, because of its high growth and because its two largest community based banks, Ozaukee Bank and Grafton State Bank, were acquired by Harris Bank last year. Harris Bank is owned by BMO Financial Group, a Canadian firm with more than $391 billion in assets.

"We looked at the area once Harris announced it was buying the two local banks up there," Kolton said. "It became clear to us that our model works in that market up there, which is similar to the Pewaukee market - the demographics are similar. And some long-time bankers became available, so we made the decision to bring those guys on board and go into the markets with their connections."

Jeff Larson and Steve Rossmeissl, former president and senior lender, respectively, at Grafton State Bank, recently joined Foundations Bank, and will work in the new loan production office. When it opens later this month, the office will have three to four employees, Kolton said.

Once Foundations Bank moves into a permanent branch location in Grafton, Generations Bancorp Inc., the bank's holding company, will likely continue to lease the space on Washington Street. In October, Generations Bancorp acquired Amerihome Mortgage Company LLC, and the holding company thinks the space being used for the loan production office could make a good office for some of the mortgage company's employees, Kolton said.

"We want to be able to provide mortgages to the community through our mortgage company," he said.

Foundations Bank also is looking for future branch locations in the southern and western areas of metro Milwaukee, Kolton said. Finding the right people to lead those offices will help determine which market the bank expands into first.

"We always look for people first," he said. "Once we can find long-term bankers, we go there. This (Grafton) was first because those guys (Larson and Rossmeissl) were available."

For more information, visit www.foundationsbank.com.

Anchor Bank takes $72 million charge, but gains boost from Treasury

Madison-based Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc. (ABCW) announced it will incur a charge of $72 million for declining asset values, event though the company has issued 110,000 shares of its senior preferred stock, Series B, to the U.S. Department of the Treasury in return for $110.0 million in cash.

In addition, ABCW issued a warrant to Treasury to purchase up to 7.4 million shares of ABCW common stock at an exercise price of $2.23 per share.

This transaction is part of the Treasury's Capital Purchase Program, which is designed to infuse capital into the nation's healthiest and strongest banks.

Douglas Timmerman, president and chief executive officer, said ABCW will downstream proceeds to its wholly-owned subsidiary, AnchorBank, where they will be used to make additional funds available for residential and consumer lending and to strengthen the bank's capital position.

Timmerman said the bank would do its best "to apply the funds in a way that will further the goals of the Treasury Capital Purchase Program by increasing the availability of credit to qualified consumer and residential loan customers."

He noted that the infusion of capital would also allow the Bank greater latitude in its efforts to work with challenging loan situations.

With capital preservation critical in today's economic climate, ABCW's board of directors voted to suspend regular quarterly dividends on its common stock. To help further reduce expenses and preserve capital, ABCW has instituted hiring and salary freezes and will consider further expense reduction initiatives.

ABCW also announced that the estimated fair value of ABCW's bank reporting unit was less than its book value, requiring a $72.2 million non-cash good will charge.

"The steps taken this quarter to write down goodwill are indicative of the depth of the current recession and the impact being felt by us and by most other financial institutions," Timmerman said.

Stark Investments to acquire assets of Minnesota fund

St. Francis-based Stark Investments has agreed to purchase the portfolio of Minnesota-based Deephaven Capital Management Inc., one of the largest hedge fund managers based in the Midwest.

Deephaven is the hedge fund unit of Knight Capital Group Inc., a New Jersey-based financial management firm.

Terms of the deal call for Stark to initially pay about $7.3 million for all of the assets of DCM's fund. The deal also calls for deferred payments of up to $37.4 million between the closing date of the deal and April 15, 2011.

Certain conditions must be met for the deferred and earn-out payments, according to an SEC filing.

The deal will give Deephaven's investors the opportunity to become investors in Stark funds by contributing proportionate shares in the Deephaven Fund Portfolio, according to a letter to Stark's shareholders authored by Brian Stark and Mike Roth, founding principals of the firm.

"Some of these positions, where appropriate, will go into the Stark Master Fund portfolio," the letter stated. "The remaining positions, based primarily on their liquidity characteristics, will be put in a side pocket to which the current investors of Shepherd and Stark Investments LP will not have exposure."

The deal is being made without having to draw down Stark's funds' excess liquidity.

"This is the clearest possible signal to our financing and counterparty relationships that Stark will be one of the survivors of the industry consolidation and we believe will thereby further significantly strengthen those critical relationships that have been a key source of our success to date," the letter stated. "Finally, the deal should provide Stark with an opportunity to open the door to additional opportunities in similar situations to acquire attractive portfolios and, potentially, investment talent."

MBO Cleary Advisors adds new division

Milwaukee-based MBO Cleary Advisors Inc. has launched the Health Care Investment Advisory Division and added Nicholas Bauer as senior consultant and Steven Backus as client advisor.

Bauer and Backus will be dedicated to providing investment advisory services for not-for-profit health care and senior living organizations.

Stephanie Chedid, president of MBO Cleary, said, "We are excited about the opportunities in the health care sector and the experience that Nick and Steve bring to our new division.  Adding this discipline works well with where our organization is today and with our focused growth plans."

Prior to joining MBO Cleary, Bauer and Backus worked with not-for-profit health care and senior living organizations at The Ziegler Companies. During Ziegler their tenures, they were responsible for developing investment policy statements, asset allocation strategies and risk management techniques that coincided with clients' capital structures.

MBO Cleary Advisors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cleary Gull Holdings.

Skipper Bud's acquires assets of Heckel's Marine

Pewaukee-based Skipper Bud's has acquired Heckel's Marine, an Eagle River boat dealer that has been struggling in the recession.

Skipper Bud's saw a unique opportunity to purchase assets, including Heckel's Eagle River property, boats and all parts and accessories in a court-ordered auction.

Skipper Bud's president Mike Pretasky Jr. said, "We saw an opportunity to purchase many boats under the current market value and we are in position to pass those savings on to our customers in the Midwest."

The company is moving quickly on to distribute the inventory to its stores in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

These boats will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis, and anyone interested in purchasing inventory items will need to contact the Skipper Bud's in Wisconsin or Northern Illinois to be placed on a waiting list. The contact phone number is (800) 636-2628 or e-mail repoboats@skipperbuds.com.

Skipper Bud's has 20 locations throughout the Midwest.

Name: Russ Weyers

Title: President/chief operating officer

Company: Johnson Bank

City of Residence: Village of Mount Pleasant

Family: Married to Debbie, two sons and two daughters

What's new at your company this year? "Having bankers being asked by their families how they are doing at work for the first time."

What was the best investment/client/project you've been involved with? "There have been many great experiences over my career of providing funding to entrepreneurs with a good idea and watching them build sustainable businesses."

What was the funniest or most interesting moment of your career? "The most interesting moments have been while serving as the chair of the WBA (Wisconsin Bankers Association) during one of the most turbulent times the industry has ever seen."

Andy Hinz has been promoted to investment banking associate at Grace Matthews Inc., a Milwaukee-based investment bank.

Hinz specializes in buy- and sell-side transactions and leveraged finance.  In his new position, he will take on an expanded role in developing and executing transaction strategies for a broad range of clients.  Since he joined Grace Matthews in 2007, Andy has worked on transactions within the financial services, basic materials, printing, and industrial equipment and services markets.  Previously, Hinz was an Equity Research Analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. 

Waukesha accounting firm expands

Chortek & Gottschalk LLP, a Waukesha-based accounting, tax, information technology and business consulting firm, announced its expansion into the Chicago and Los Angeles markets with the addition of Dave Friedman as a new partner.

Friedman is a certified public accountant and a certified fraud examiner with a certificate in financial forensics. He will head up both the Chicago office, located in Northbrook, and the Los Angeles office, located in Beverly Hills.

"We have been serving clients in Wisconsin for over 60 years and we're excited to expand our presence in Illinois and California under Dave's leadership," said Greg Junek, managing partner of CFhortek & Gottschalk. "The addition of Dave and the professional staff he brings with him allows us to expand our offerings and better serve our clients. Dave is long-established in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas and his specialization in the entertainment industry is a great fit for Chortek & Gottschalk."

"I'm excited to be joining Chortek & Gottschalk," Friedman said. "Their depth and professionalism will enable us to better serve our client base. Our expertise in fraud matters and the entertainment industry complements their expertise in tax, technology and business consulting."

Baird awarded for work in manufacturing, consumer-related M&A advisory services

R.W. Baird & Co., an employee-owned international capital markets, private equity, wealth and asset management firm, has received top manufacturing and consumer investment banking honors for its mergers and acquisitions work in 2008. Baird was named "Manufacturing Sector Adviser of the Year" by Acquisitions Monthly, a U.K.-based publication of Thomson Financial and won the “Consumer and Retail Products Deal of the Year” (large transaction category) award from The M&A Advisor for its role in advising Technical Concepts on its sale to Newell Rubbermaid Inc. for $445 million.

"Given the current landscape, it's especially gratifying to be recognized for the value we consistently strive to provide our middle-market clients across our global platform," said Steve Booth, director of investment banking for Baird.

Wisconsin foreclosures still on the rise

The housing market continues to plummet in conjunction with rising job layoffs in Wisconsin, as foreclosure filings increased in January from the previous month.

According to ForeclosureAlarm.com, a real-time notification system of new foreclosure filings in the state, foreclosures in January were the second-highest on record for the Wisconsin, far outpacing those in December. In addition, the January numbers continue a trend in foreclosure escalation over the last year with increases in the number of foreclosures in seven of the past eight months.

Of the more populated counties, Waukesha and St. Croix had the largest jumps in foreclosure filings, with increases of 59 and 56 percent, respectively, when compared with December figures. Milwaukee and Dane counties saw January increases of 8 and 24 percent, respectively from their numbers in December.

"We are seeing a continued escalation in the number of foreclosures," said Phil Crawford, president of ForeclosureAlarm.com. "Foreclosures are no longer simply a sub-prime issue, as shown by the significant increases in counties such as Waukesha, Ozaukee and St. Croix."

The American Society of Women Accountants Milwaukee Chapter will hold its “ASWA Student Night” on Tuesday, Feb. 24 from 6-8 p.m. at Klemmer's Banquet Center, 10401 West Oklahoma Avenue, West Allis. The event is held to encourage networking between students and accounting and financial professionals. Raffles and auction items sold will benefit the ASWA scholarship fund. Cost is $22 for members, $24 for guests and $19 for students. For more, contact Kathy Burzynski at 262-335-0763 or Bur@BurzynskiES.com.

The Wisconsin Bankers Association will present its annual "WBA Bank Executives Conference" from Monday, Feb. 9 through Wednesday, Feb. 11 at The Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee. Speakers at the the three-day event include:

• Matthew R. Feldman, president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago,
• Brian Westbury, chief economist of First Trust Advisors LP,
• Lorrie Keating Heinemann, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions,
• Tucker Carlson, senior political correspondent with MSNBC,
• Mark Belling, afternoon drive time host on 1130 WISM Am, and
• Raymond Davis, president and CEO of Umpqua Holdings.

For more information, visit www.wisbank.com/bankexecs.

Banking

• Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions 
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
• Wisconsin Bankers Association 
• Community Bankers of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association
• American Bankers Association
• Bankers Association for Finance and Trade
• Commercial Finance Association 
• Risk Management Association

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Association for Corporate Growth 
• International Business Brokers Association 
• Mergers.com

Wealth Management/Financial/Retirement Planning

• Financial Planning Association
• Financial Planning Association of Southern Wisconsin
• Investment Management Consultants Association
• National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)

Other 

• Small Business Administration
• State public awareness campaign
• Wisconsin Credit Union League
• CFA Institute
• CFA Society of Milwaukee
• Wisconsin Angel Network