Peyton Patterson, a prominent Connecticut banker hired by New Canaan’s Bankwell Financial to pursue an aggressive growth strategy to quadruple the lender’s asset size, has resigned, Bankwell announced Thursday.
Bankwell Chairman Blake S. Drexler will assume Patterson’s duties while the board searches for a permanent replacement, Bankwell said.
In a press release, Patterson said: “After careful consideration and discussions with the board, I have decided it is in the best interests of the company to resign from my positions. I am incredibly proud of what we achieved during my time at Bankwell and did not want my personal matters to overshadow the accomplishments and hard work of our team.”
In June, the Hartford Business Journal first reported that Patterson was having personal financial struggles, which previously had not been made public. Since Sept. 2013, judges presiding over lawsuits by American Express and two private country clubs have ordered her to repay nearly $393,000 in debts, according to court records.
Asked Friday morning if the resignation was related to Patterson’s personal finance issues, a Bankwell spokeswoman said Friday morning that she could not comment.
The loss of Patterson’s “cachet and track record” led equities analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to downgrade Bankwell’s shares from ‘outperform’ to ‘market perform,’ lowering the bank’s target share price from $21 to $19.
“Ms. Patterson’s successful track record at NewAlliance made her leadership a key component of our investment thesis,” KWB analysts wrote. “With Ms. Patterson no longer leading the bank, we are moving to the sidelines given the level of executive uncertainty.”
Patterson led New Haven-based NewAlliance Bank’s $1.5 billion sale to First Niagara in 2010, walking away with compensation estimated at between $16 million and $23 million.
Drexler stood up for Patterson after the judgments came to light, calling her an “outstanding president and CEO” and expressing confidence she would resolve the issues.
Patterson has repaid at least one of her debts detailed in the June story. North Haven’s Granite Communications CEO Gregg Haughton said his business received the $1,008 it was owed for a phone system installed at Patterson’s New Canaan home early last year. The payment came by courier on July 23, approximately six weeks after the HBJ’s story was published.
In a statement Thursday, Drexler thanked Patterson for her leadership of the bank’s initial public offering in May and credited her for building an experienced executive team.
Bankwell’s stock has been trading below its $18 opening price since the May 15 IPO. Shares opened down approximately 2 percent Friday, at $17.12.