American Savings Bank Files for IPO, Could Raise $50 Million on NYSE

American Savings Bank has filed to become a publicly traded company, a move that would make Hawaii's third-largest bank the first in the islands to hit a major exchange since 2016. The bank filed a registration statement on Monday, seeking to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ASBH, though it has not yet set a price range or a number of shares for the offering.

The filing traces directly back to the aftermath of the August 2023 Maui wildfires. As reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Hawaiian Electric Industries sold a 90.1% stake in American Savings Bank to a group of investors for $405 million at the end of 2024, a deal that valued the bank at $450 million and was done to pay off debt and help fund future wildfire settlements. Hawaiian Electric retained a 9.9% stake in the bank, and the paper notes that some of the new investors include officers and directors of the utility company itself.

That sale was part of a larger financial reckoning for Hawaiian Electric Industries, which committed $1.99 billion toward a $4.037 billion global settlement resolving Maui wildfire litigation, according to Hoodline's prior coverage. The utility also pledged $75 million to Hawaii's One ʻOhana Fund, which grew to its full $175 million goal earlier this month to compensate families of the 102 people killed and survivors hospitalized in the fire that destroyed most of Lahaina, per Hoodline's reporting. The disaster leveled businesses, public buildings, and roughly 5,500 homes.

A Bank Built in 1925, Now Standing Alone

American Savings Bank traces its roots to 1925, when American Building and Loan opened its first branch in Honolulu, per the Star-Advertiser. Hawaiian Electric Industries acquired the bank for $112 million back in May 1988 and held it for decades before this decade's forced restructuring. The bank now serves nearly 400,000 customers across 35 branches on five islands — 24 on Oahu, five on Maui, three on Hawaii Island, two on Kauai, and one on Molokai — supported by more than 120 ATMs.

As of June 30, American Savings Bank reported $9.05 billion in assets, $6.2 billion in total loans, and $8.2 billion in total deposits, according to the Star-Advertiser. The bank posted $55.7 million in year-to-date net income through that same date. Separately, Renaissance Capital's IPO research places the bank's trailing 12-month revenue at $364 million with $692.5 million in total stockholders' equity, and pegs its workforce at 1,006 employees statewide as of the August filing.

Underwriters Line Up, But No Price Tag Yet

Piper Sandler & Co. is serving as the primary underwriter for the offering, the Star-Advertiser reports, while Renaissance Capital's research identifies both Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Piper Sandler as joint bookrunners, with D.A. Davidson & Co. and Stephens Inc. acting as co-managers. Renaissance Capital estimates the offering could raise approximately $50 million, though it cautions that final share counts and price ranges remain unconfirmed. American Savings Bank itself has said the offering is subject to market conditions and that there is no assurance it will be completed or when.

Because American Savings Bank operates as a national bank without a parent holding company, it falls under the primary regulatory supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rather than the Federal Reserve Board, according to Renaissance Capital — an unusual structure compared to most commercial banks. The bank filed its Form S-1 with the OCC to formalize the process. Karwin Sui, a spokesperson for the bank, said American Savings Bank could not comment beyond confirming it had filed the S-1, and the bank has indicated it will have no further comment beyond the filing itself. Ann Teranishi serves as the bank's president and CEO.

Part of a Broader Retreat From Non-Utility Ventures

The IPO fits into a pattern of Hawaiian Electric Industries shedding non-utility businesses. The company closed its Pacific Current subsidiary and sold its Kauai biomass energy plant earlier this year, moves Hoodline previously tied to HEI's utility refocus as the company works to preserve capital for its core regulated electric business.

If the offering materializes, American Savings Bank would become a publicly traded company for the first time and the fifth major Hawaii bank listed on a primary exchange, joining Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, Central Pacific Bank, and Territorial Savings Bank, per the Star-Advertiser. Bank of Hawaii holds $23.8 billion in assets and ranks as the state's largest bank by that measure, followed by First Hawaiian Bank at $23.6 billion, Central Pacific Bank at $7.50 billion, and Territorial Savings Bank at $2.11 billion. Territorial, ranked fifth, is now operated as a subsidiary of Hope Bancorp after that company acquired it in April 2025.

The last time a Hawaii bank pulled off an IPO of this scale was August 2016, when First Hawaiian Bank debuted on NASDAQ and raised more than $550 million as former parent BNP Paribas began selling down its stake, according to First Hawaiian Inc. That same year, NextEra Energy attempted to purchase Hawaiian Electric Industries for $4.3 billion, a deal the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission rejected by a 2-0 vote with one abstention. Regulators found that NextEra's promised $60 million in rate credits and $1 billion in statewide benefits were inadequate, uncertain, and too conditional to approve, and NextEra ultimately paid Hawaiian Electric $95 million in breakup fees and other expenses. As part of the fallout from that failed merger, NextEra had required Hawaiian Electric to spin off American Savings Bank into a publicly traded company — a requirement that never came to pass until this year's filing.

The IPO news also lands weeks after a more routine local matter touched the bank directly: Maui Police investigated a fraud case at American Savings Bank's Pukalani branch, where a suspect allegedly used another person's paper temporary driver's license to withdraw $1,700, as Hoodline reported earlier this month. Investors and depositors alike are now watching to see whether the OCC prospectus firms up a price range in the weeks ahead.