Business First Bancshares, Inc., the holding company of Business First Bank of Baton Rouge, Louisiana has announced it has received all necessary approvals from NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC, and that shares of the company’s common stock will begin trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “BFST” at market opening today.
“Listing our shares for trading on a major public exchange is a significant step in the life of a company. We are proud to have reached this point and thank all of our investors and clients for their tremendous and consistent support over our start-up years,” said Jude Melville, President & CEO of Business First.
“However, we also view this less as an accomplishment and more as an opportunity. Having our common stock as a liquid currency is a tool that we may use to continue recruiting superior talent, enhance our ability to take advantage of strategic acquisition opportunities, and provide increasingly efficient access to capital as opportunities arise. We believe that opportunities in the community banking landscape will continue to arise, and we look forward to being poised to capitalize upon them.”
Business First’s listing of its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market is not made in connection with any offering of its common stock. Rather, this is a direct listing of the company’s common stock, which will provide investors with the ability to buy and sell shares in the open market.
In January, Business First completed its acquisition of MBL Bank in Minden. The transition of MBL to Business First is ongoing.