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Jay Sidhu-led Customers Bancorp Inc. filed a registration statement March 28 for an initial public offering, making the Wyomissing, Pa.-based company the first bank to announce an IPO in 2012.
Some industry observers say the timing of Customers Bancorp's filing makes sense, as the IPO market is starting to thaw.
"I think the IPO market is heating up in general because Facebook [Inc.] is getting a lot of people interested," said Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com. "[Customers Bancorp] is not a technology company but people are looking."
SNL records show that there have been six bank IPOs announced since the beginning of 2011, and only one of these has closed -- Seattle-based HomeStreet Inc. in February.
David Menlow, president of IPOfinancial.com, said the financial crisis of 2008 is still scaring investors away from bank IPOs. "The banking sector is going to be walking on eggshells any time an IPO does come into the marketplace because of all the history and dirty laundry," he...