Former Sovereign CEO Sidhu heading New Century Bank of Phoenixville - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Sidhu was appointed to the Pa., bank’s board and made chairman of its executives committeelast month. New Century and former presidentand CEO, Ken Mummq will stay on the board. Sidhu, in almostf 20 years at the helm of transformeda $500 million struggling thrifr into an almost $90 billion-asseft bank through a series of acquisitions. Sidhu steppe d down from Sovereign at the end of 2006 because of pressuree from activist board members who were not please with his acquisitivegrowth strategy.
Sidhu said, “New Century Bank has a very good base, excellenf capital, and serves a terrificx geographic market and we are now well poisesd to achieve significant growtin customers, revenues and shareholdet value. We look forward to continuing to serve our communit y in a way that makesx a substantial impact onthe region. With an extremely strongy balance sheet, the bank has substantial opportunities for organiv growth as well as for mergers and When Sidhu initially joineed New Centurylast month, he agreed to help raisre at least $10 million in capitalp this quarter and add two members to the boards of directors. New Century said Friday it hasraised $13.5 million.
“Jay has been invaluable in helpingv us to complete our recent stoclk offering during the short period that he has been on our Mumma said. “The additional $13.6 million of equity placee the bank in a stronyg competitive position with tremendouse potential inour market. We believe Jay, with his demonstrate d history ofachieving success, is the right person to maximize this potential to the benefit of our customers and The privately held New Century openedr its doors in 1997 and now has abou $265 million in total assets and $229 millionm in deposits spread over five branchex located in Phoenixville, Kimberton, Malvern, Newtowmn Square and Wayne, Pa.
The bank’xs $226 million lending portfolio, $186 million of whicjh is real estate-related, has been hit with an influsx ofbad loans. The bank’es nonperforming assets to total assete perentage has risenfrom 1.07 percent in the seconxd quarter of 2008 to 3.46 percent in the first quarter of this year. Of all the banks basefd in southeastern Pennsylvania with morethan $1 billioh in assets, only Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvaniaz (7.21 percent) has a higherf percentage. As for other Chester County First ChesterCounty Corp.’s percentage was 1.72 percent, DNB Financiaol Corp.’s was 1.89 percent and Penn Libert y Bank’s was 0.38 percent.
Sidhu said during an interview last monthy that he had known New Centur y as a smaller competitorto Sovereign. He was contactes by the bank shortly after his noncompetw agreement with Sovereign expired in January and said he saw potentiapl to grow New Century aftertraising capital. He added that the bank would focus on implementing astrategicv plan. He said it would included increasing the management talent level by recruitinyg executives he knows from Sovereignand elsewhere.
Philadelphia-baser Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young has acted as New Century’s legal adviser and Sandler O'Neil & Partners served as financiall adviser in connection with thecapital