Capital Bank wants to buy a bank this year

Capital Bank Financial Corp. says it's disappointed it didn't make an acquisition in 2013, and plans to change that in the coming months. Executives there told analysts this week that they've evaluated "a large number" of potential deals and feels optimistic they'll get one done soon.

The bank is headed by former Bank of America executives Gene Taylor and Chris Marshall. It's headquartered in Coral Gables, Fla., but has corporate offices in Charlotte. They've cobbled together a franchise across North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida primarily through buying up troubled banks.

And they are coming off a strong year: Net income tripled, according to year-end results reported this week.

But analysts covering the bank spent even more time asking Capital Bank executives about their hiring strategy.

And based on what Taylor and Marshall told analysts, it seems that they've had success in recruiting old colleagues in joining the growing Capital Bank. "Almost every single person we've hired, is someone known from our past," Taylor said on a conference call, according to a transcript.

And while Taylor said the compensation decisions have been "disciplined," it hasn't been a struggle to bring in talented people.

"We've had no issue hiring anybody we want on any basis," Taylor said, per the transcript. "Our new hires are referred to us from other people we've hired, have been somewhere else, and they tell them that we're very focused, and very clear about what we want to do and how we want to do it, and they decide for themselves does it fit their own career aspirations and compensation aspirations."

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