LANSING, Mich. and PHOENIX, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Capitol Bancorp Limited (NYSE:CBC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Mountain View Bank of Commerce in Westminster, Colorado, a $46.2 million affiliate, to Cherry Hills Founders Group, a Colorado-based investment group led by Stephanie Bluher, in an all cash transaction. "The sale of Mountain View Bank of Commerce will serve to further the Corporation's well-publicized efforts to better allocate capital and resources within the organization," said Capitol Bancorp's Chairman and CEO Joseph D. Reid. "We are pleased to have supported the Mountain View Bank of Commerce team, under the leadership of President and CEO Andy Ellison to build a strong banking platform focused on the needs of the Denver metro area. We take comfort in the opportunity to align Mountain View Bank of Commerce with a group of investors dedicated to the local market," commented Reid. "We are excited to have the opportunity to acquire such a strong and well-capitalized bank with solid leadership in the metro Denver market," said Bluher. Andy Ellison, who serves as President and CEO of Mountain View Bank of Commerce, will continue in this role under the new ownership. "We're looking forward to growing in the community and are pleased that Andy will be leading that effort," commented Bluher. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed sometime during 2010. About Capitol Bancorp Limited Capitol Bancorp Limited (NYSE:CBC) is a $5.4 billion national community bank company, with a network of separately chartered banks in 17 states. Founded in 1988, Capitol Bancorp Limited has executive offices in Lansing, Michigan, and Phoenix, Arizona. Forward Looking Statement Certain statements in this announcement contain forward-looking statements that are based on management's expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "scheduled," "estimates" and variations of these words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual future results and trends may differ materially from what is forecast in forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the company or any person acting on the Corporation's behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements in this press release. The Corporation does not undertake any obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release. DATASOURCE: Capitol Bancorp Limited CONTACT: Analyst Contact: Michael M. Moran, Chief of Capital Markets, 877-884-5662, or Media Contact: Stephanie Swan, Director of Shareholder Services, +1-517-487-6555 Web Site: http://www.capitolbancorp.com/

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