Edwin F. Hale Sr., shipping and trucking executive and ex-banker, is about to become a banker again.
He announced yesterday plans to buy a controlling stake in a small thrift holding company called MarylandsBank Corp., and turn it into a commercial bank named First Mariner Bancorp.
In some ways, the move is a step back for Mr. Hale, who until this month was chairman of Baltimore Bancorp, the $3.5 billion parent of the Bank of Baltimore and the fifth-largest banking company in Maryland.
Mr. Hale, 48, became chairman of Baltimore Bancorp in 1990, just before the company's financial problems emerged and threatened to sink the institution. This month, after a dramatic four-year turnaround, Baltimore Bancorp was sold to First Fidelity Bancorp., of Lawrenceville, N.J., and Mr. Hale was out of a job.
But not for long. He said yesterday that, assuming state and federal regulatory approval, he will acquire a majority stake in MarylandsBank and plans to help it grow into a "significant force that may be coming to a neighborhood near you."
That could take some time. MarylandsBank so far consists of four branches and $25 million in assets in two savings bank subsidiaries: Farmers Bank FSB, and MarylandsBank FSB (until this summer known as Garibaldi FSB).
The holding company was formed in February by, among others, its chairman, J. Clarence Jameson III, 63, the founder of Towson accounting firm James & Associates P.A.; and by its president and chief executive officer, George H. Mantakos, 52, who had worked at Union Trust Co. and later Fairview Federal Savings Bank.
With investments from 10 of Mr. Hale's associates and 10 associates of Mr. Jameson and Mr. Mantakos, the group plans to increase the company's capital immediately to $7 million from $2 million. That will provide enough leverage to increase the assets to as much as $90 million, Mr. Hale said.
The company will convert from a thrift to a commercial state bank charter. It hopes to double the number of branches within a year. Within two or three years, when assets reach $150 million to $200 million, it plans to go public with the help of investment bankers Alex. Brown Inc.
In the meantime, expect growth through new branches and acquisitions. "There was a time to sell," Mr. Hale said yesterday. "I think the decision to sell the Bank of Baltimore to First Fidelity was good. But now it's a time to buy."
In a news conference from his Hale Intermodal shipping and trucking company in Canton, he noted several times that First Mariner represents the reversal of a trend that has replaced local ownership of Baltimore-area banks with out-of-state control.
"We're doing something today that I've been wanting to do since the Bank of Baltimore was sold," Mr. Hale said. "And that is form a locally owned bank here in Baltimore that has roots in the community."
In fact, he had said for several months that he probably would turn up at another local bank. In August, Mr. Hale dropped plans to acquire a controlling interest in Bank Maryland Corp. of Towson. He said he couldn't reach an agreement with Bank Maryland's chairman, the largest stockholder. In October, Bank Maryland announced it would be sold to Mason-Dixon Bancshares Corp., parent of Carroll County Bank & Trust Co.
First Mariner's corporate headquarters will be at Hale Intermodal's South Clinton Street building, the site of one of the first proposed new branches. "I'm not a 25-story guy," Mr. Hale said, looking across the harbor to the towers of downtown Baltimore. "I like being down by the waterfront."
The company's administrative offices will be in Towson, at 115 E. Joppa Road. One of the first new branches will be established on Main Street in Belair, and Mr. Hale said the company will extend "from Annapolis to Aberdeen," and presumably points in between.
Mr. Jameson said he and his associates started MarylandsBank Corp. -- shamelessly cadging its name from NationsBank Corp. -- "with the strategy of buying small thrifts and consolidating them."
Said Mr. Mantakos: "We don't want to be the biggest bank in town. We want to be the best."
"I'd like to keep this around for many many years and build it," Mr. Hale said. "It's going to be something that's part of the community."