Nov. 5--PlainsCapital Corp. has postponed its initial public offering, the Dallas-based financial services company said Wednesday.

"The current market volatility, especially as it affects financial stocks, has created unfavorable conditions for the offering," said Alan White, PlainsCapital's chairman and chief executive. "We have decided to postpone the IPO and wait for an improved market environment."

The company had hoped to sell 15 million shares at $14 to $16 each.

"They would have had to lower the price dramatically," said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of IPO Boutique, an advisory firm with offices in Tampa, Fla., and Pittsburgh.

Asked how long the deal might be postponed, Sweet said, "I wouldn't hold my breath."

Scheduled for this week, the stock sale could have generated $225 million, assuming a price of $15 per share. About $70 million would have gone to senior managers, with more than $140 million going to PlainsCapital, after expenses.

The company planned to use most of the proceeds to redeem stock issued to the Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The offering, announced in August, would have been the first U.S. bank IPO since 2007 and the first in North Texas since May 2008.With nearly $4.7 billion in assets, Plains- Capital owns PlainsCapital Bank; PrimeLending, a mortgage lender; and FirstSouthwest, a public finance advisory and investment banking unit.

Investment research firm Morningstar Inc. described the IPO as being of "low interest."

"We're also concerned about PlainsCapital's long-term profitability due to its highly volatile mortgage origination business, which has posted very handsome income numbers in recent quarters," said Morningstar equity analyst Maclovio Pina.

"However, we do not think the unit's profitability is sustainable, as the unusually high activity in refinancing that has swept across the nation has been the result of the favorable interest rate environment, which won't last forever," Pina said.

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