Activist group, Dream Chasers Capital, boosts its offer to buy New York-based Carver Bank

A New York-based minority investment firm has sweetened its offer for Carver Bancorp.

Dream Chasers Capital announced last Monday in a press release that it would pay US$3.25 for each share of the US$743 million-asset Carver’s stock. Headquartered in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, Carver is the holding company for the 75-year-old Carver Federal Savings Bank, one of the most prominent Black banks in the United States. Carver reported 4.9 million shares outstanding as of November 10, which would value Dream Chaser’s offer at close to US$16 million.

Dream Chasers made its original US$3-per-share offer in August.

Carver shares were trading for $1.92 midday Wednesday. In a press release last Monday, Dream Chasers labeled Carver’s relatively low stock price “an indictment of management.”

President and CEO Michael Pugh stepped down on September 30 after an 8-year tenure leading Carver. The company tapped veteran investment banker Craig MacKay to serve as president and CEO on an interim basis.