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Treasury Department Announces Public Offering of Preferred Stock of Six CPP Institutions

(Archived Content)


WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that it is commencing secondary public offerings of the preferred stock it holds in the following six institutions:

 

  • Banner Corporation, Walla Walla, WA (“Banner”)
  • First Financial Holdings Inc., Charleston, SC (“First Financial”)
  • MainSource Financial Group, Inc., Greensburg, IN (“MainSource”)
  • Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, Stuart, FL (“Seacoast”)
  • Wilshire Bancorp, Inc., Los Angeles, CA (“Wilshire”)
  • WSFS Financial Corporation, Wilmington, DE (“WSFS”)

 

The offerings are expected to price through a modified Dutch auction.  Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (“Merrill Lynch”) and Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. (“Sandler O’Neill”) are the auction agents and joint bookrunning managers for the offerings of the preferred stock of Banner, MainSource, Seacoast, Wilshire and WSFS.  Merrill Lynch is the auction agent and sole bookrunning manager for the offering of the preferred stock of First Financial.  Houlihan Lokey Capital, Inc. is serving as financial advisor to Treasury with respect to the management and disposition of its CPP investments. 

Merrill Lynch and Sandler O'Neill, in their capacity as auction agents, have specified that the auction will commence at 8:30 a.m., New York City time, on March 26, 2012, and will close at 6:30 p.m., New York City time, on March 28, 2012 (the “submission deadline”). During the auction period, potential bidders for the preferred stock will be able to place bids on the offered preferred stock (in increments of whole shares) at any price per share (in increments of $0.01).  At settlement, winning bidders will be required to pay the clearing price for the preferred stock plus accrued and unpaid dividends on the preferred stock from and including February 15, 2012.  Investors may bid on individual or multiple preferred stock positions.

The auction procedure and terms of the respective preferred stock are described in the applicable preliminary prospectus supplements referenced below.

Each series of preferred stock is being offered pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement that has been filed by the applicable issuer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). A preliminary prospectus supplement related to each offering will be filed by the applicable issuer with the SEC and will be available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

Copies of the final prospectus supplements relating to the offerings of the preferred stock of Banner, Mainsource, Seacoast, Wilshire and WSFS may be obtained, when available, from Merrill Lynch via email at dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com or (800) 294-1322 or from Sandler O’Neill via email at syndicate@sandleroneill.com or (866) 805-4128.  Copies of the final prospectus supplement relating to the offering of the preferred stock of First Financial may be obtained, when available, from Merrill Lynch via email at dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com or (800) 294-1322.

Before you invest, you should read the prospectus and prospectus supplement in the registration statement and other documents the applicable issuer has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the issuer and the preferred stock.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

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