Bank7 wins controlling stake in New Mexico lender after owner defaults

Bank7 Corp. won a court-ordered sale of about 71% of Santa Fe-based Century Financial Services Corp. for a net cash price of $89 million. Century Financial Services is the parent of Century Bank. The first bid was $68 million. The price was $91 million before a $2 million credit. Majority owner Gerald Peters pledged his Century stock as collateral for loans from KS State Bank of Kansas. Peters did not repay the loans. A receiver in Arizona federal court is selling the shares. Century Bank is not in bankruptcy. The deal needs approval from bank regulators. The deal is slated for the fourth quarter. Century Bank has nine New Mexico branches. It has two Texas loan offices. Century Bank had $1.36 billion in assets as of June 30th. Bank7 has about $1.9 billion. The combined institutions would have about $3.4 billion. Bank7 plans to keep the Century name.