Belvedere Capital sells Presidio stake

Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 3:35 pm

By Jenna V. Loceff, Business Journal Staff Reporter

SAN FRANCISCO – Belvedere Capital sold all of its nearly 25 percent stake in San Francisco-based Presidio Bank, which has two North Bay locations.

Steve Heitel, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, said all of the shares were purchased by new or existing shareholders.

“Belvedere bent over backwards to tell us that it had nothing to do with the perceived health of the institution, or the potential for the future,” Mr. Heitel said.

Belvedere Capital is a private equity investment firm established in 1994.

According to its Web site, the company seeks to “partner with strong management teams to build profitable, growing franchises that attract the best talent and deliver excellent returns for shareholders.”

Presidio Bank was founded in 2005 by Stephen Fleming, former president and CEO of National Bank of the Redwoods in Santa Rosa, and James Woolwine, former CEO and chairman of Golden Gate Bank in San Francisco. It was then that they partnered with Belvedere Capital.

Presidio, in its annual shareholder letter, stated that both loans and core deposits grew more than 20 percent for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009.