As the list of Georgia banks that have applied for funding in the U.S. Treasury’s TARP program grows, only two of those banks, as of late November, have actually closed on their financing.

SunTrust Banks Inc. was the first. The latest to complete the financing transaction is Ameris Bancorp of Moultrie, Ga. Rogers & Hardin partners Steve Fox and Jody Spencer, longstanding outside counsel to the bank, advised Ameris on the application, Spencer said.

Ameris sold 52,000 shares of preferred stock to the Treasury for $52 million in cash, according to a regulatory filing. Treasury also obtained a 10-year warrant to purchase up to 679,443 shares of Ameris’ common stock. The transaction was conducted under Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program Capital Purchase Program, also known as TARP.

Ameris agreed to certain restrictions on compensation for its executives, as required under the TARP plan.

It’s not luck that Ameris was only the second Georgia bank to complete its TARP application, said Spencer [photo, right].

“The Treasury is interested in supporting healthy banks,” Spencer said. “Ameris applied voluntarily, of course, and was approved very quickly. I think that’s a good statement on their position.”

Describing Ameris as “the prototypical community bank,” Spencer said Ameris didn’t delve into complicated or risky loans like subprime mortgages.

Ameris operates 46 locations of Ameris Bank in south Georgia, north Florida, Alabama and South Carolina.

EMS Technologies Inc., a Norcross, Ga. wireless broadband communications firm, was counseled by King & Spalding partner Mark Thompson in London on a $46 million acquisition of a British company.

In the all-cash deal agreement, EMS will acquire Satamatics Global Ltd. of Tewkesbury, United Kingdom. The companies expect to close the deal early next year, pending approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and other conditions.

Thompson was lead partner for King & Spalding. Other Atlanta-based attorneys involved included partners Eleanor Banister, Ray Baltz, Suzanne Feese and Holmes Hawkins. Steptoe & Johnson partner Alfred Mamlet in Washington advised Satamatics.

Satamatics makes satellite data communications terminals for mobile asset tracking and monitoring. EMS is involved in several business segments, such as providing voice, e-mail, video conferencing and Internet capabilities on aircraft. EMS also makes LXE-brand handheld and vehicle-mounted computers used in logistics management; and it makes microwave-based communications equipment for defense contractors.

Alston & Bird and Troutman Sanders were on opposite sides of the deal table on the recent sale of a Cobb County office building, according to attorneys at the law firms.

Earlier this month, Cousins Properties Inc. sold a 188,000-square-foot building on Windy Hill Road to Genuine Parts Co. for $12.5 million.

The building was erected in 1984 and is located in Wildwood Office Park, situated in a heavily wooded area along the Chattahoochee River.

Troutman partner John Griffin advised Cousins on the deal, he said. Alston associate Catherine Morgen said she was primary outside counsel to Genuine Parts, along with partner Jay Farris. They worked with Genuine Parts General Counsel Scott C. Smith.

Genuine Parts will occupy some of the building, but it won’t use it as its primary corporate headquarters, Griffin said. Genuine Parts’ headquarters building is located in the nearby Circle 75 Parkway complex. Genuine Parts is the largest member of the National Automotive Parts Association, the namesake of the NAPA Auto Parts retail chain.

With the sale of the property, Cousins has now ended its affiliation with the Wildwood Office Park. Since 2004, Cousins has sold the buildings it owned in the development to multiple buyers, including CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., said Cousins spokesman Matt Gove. Cousins sold its last remaining properties in the development this year.  Additionally, Cousins in March 2007 moved its corporate headquarters out of Wildwood Office Park to the 191 Peachtree tower in downtown Atlanta.

Kilpatrick Stockton gave legal advice to AT&T Inc. on its successful bid for a $346 million technology-outsourcing contract with the state of Georgia.

Partner Jim Steinberg, chair of the firm’s technology practice group, led the team. Counsel Jim Paine and partner Dorinda Peacock in Raleigh, N.C., were also involved.

Gov. Sonny Perdue awarded a five-year contract to AT&T to provide wide area network, local area network and voice services. The contract comes with two, one-year options to renew, according to Perdue’s office.

A 2007 audit of Georgia’s information-technology operations revealed “aging infrastructure, inability to meet minimum industry standards, lack of processes and skills, little coordination of spending and deficiencies in disaster recovery,” according to Perdue’s office.

AT&T will work with the Georgia Technology Authority, a state agency. AT&T will offer jobs to 33 Georgia Technology Authority employees. The authority’s remaining 92 employees will be laid off, according to the Associated Press.

Combined with a separate, $873 million contract with IBM, the state expects to save about $180 million by outsourcing its information technology.

A Georgia state senator who controls two auto dealerships has tapped his longtime outside law firm—Segal, Fryer, Shuster & Lester—for advice on an offer to acquire a dealership from the bankrupt Bill Heard Enterprises Inc.

Michael Shuster, a partner at the Atlanta firm, is advising a company controlled by State Sen. Emanuel Jones on his offer to buy a former Bill Heard dealership in Columbus. The company, called Legacy Automotive of Columbus LLC, made its offer in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama, where Bill Heard’s Chapter 11 case was filed.

Legacy’s offer is valued at least $12.5 million, and will ultimately be significantly higher than that, Shuster said. That figure includes an offer of $11.5 million for the dealership’s real estate, and another $1 million for furniture, fixtures and equipment at the dealership. However, Legacy is also offering to acquire two other sets of assets—the dealership’s inventory of new vehicles and its inventory of automobile parts. The value of those inventories has yet to be determined, Shuster said.

Shuster said he has been representing Jones since he entered the automobile dealership industry in 1991. Segal, Fryer, Shuster & Lester partner Charles I. Pollack is also advising Legacy on the real estate aspects of its acquisition offer.

Legacy had previously made an offer to acquire Bill Heard’s shuttered dealership in Gwinnett County. But that offer was withdrawn earlier this month.

Jones, a Democrat from Ellenwood, owns two dealerships in Henry County, Legacy Ford and Legacy Hyundai, both in McDonough. Jones was elected to the Georgia Senate in 2004.

Legacy’s offer for the Columbus dealership is classified as a “stalking horse” bid in bankruptcy court filings. That means Bill Heard is required to solicit other offers, and Legacy could be out-bid, Shuster said. Additionally, Legacy’s offer must receive final approval from both the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and from General Motors Corp., which holds an existing franchise agreement with Bill Heard.

Bids are also outstanding on two other Bill Heard dealerships, in Collierville, Tenn., and Huntsville, Ala.

Before filing for bankruptcy and closing all its dealerships in September, Bill Heard Enterprises was one of the largest Chevrolet dealers in the U.S.

Burr & Forman partners Robert Rubin and Derek Meek in Birmingham, Ala., are lead bankruptcy counsel to Bill Heard Enterprises. Kilpatrick Stockton partners Dennis Meir and John Mills in Atlanta and Mark Taylor in Washington are advising the official committee of unsecured creditors.

On Tuesday, United Community Banks Inc. became the third Georgia-based bank to participate in the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program. The banking company relied on longtime counsel at Kilpatrick Stockton, including partner Richard Cheatham and associate James Stevens, for advice on participating in the program, according to the law firm.

United will issue $180 million of senior preferred stock to the Treasury, along with warrants to purchase $27 million in common stock, according to a news release. United said it will use the capital to expand lending and consider possible bank acquisitions.

In addition to United, SunTrust Banks Inc. and Synovus Financial Corp. are also participating in the Treasury program. SunTrust was approved to receive $3.5 billion and Synovus was approved for $973 million.

Headquartered in Blairsville, United Community Banks is the third-largest Georgia-based bank holding company, after SunTrust and Synovus. United operates 27 community banks, with 108 offices, in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Rogers & Hardin partner Steve Fox advised Crown Crafts Inc. on inking a contract with its new chief financial officer.

Crown Crafts in September announced that it had hired Olivia W. Elliott as vice president and CFO, receiving a promotion from her previous position as company treasurer. She joined Crown Crafts from Amedisys in 2001. Crown Crafts will pay Elliott a salary of $200,000, plus performance-based cash bonuses and other benefits, according to a regulatory filing.

Crown Crafts, of Gonzales, La., makes bedding, bibs and blankets for infants and toddlers.

An Atlanta specialty printing company hired a Texas law firm for legal advice on the sale of the company.

InnerWorkings Inc. acquired Origen Partners Inc. of Atlanta last month for $7.9 million in cash up front, plus potential additional cash payments of $14 million. Brown McCarroll partner Robert Morrison in Dallas was legal counsel to Origen Partners on the deal, according to a regulatory filing. DLA Piper partner Richard Ginsberg in Chicago advised InnerWorkings.

Michael Stoecker, listed as general manager of Origen Partners in the asset purchase agreement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Kim J. Stoecker are listed in the document as Origen Partners’ only shareholders.

Origen Partners specializes in point of purchase displays, signage and other in-store merchandising materials. InnerWorkings, of Chicago, manages and delivers printed materials and promotional products for corporations.

Alston & Bird partner Rosemarie Thurston [photo, right] is advising a broker-dealer that’s managing the initial public offering of a newly formed business development company.

Thurston’s client, FS² Capital Partners LLC of Orlando, Fla., is the broker-dealer for FS Investment Corp. FS Investment Corp. was established earlier this year, under the terms of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as a business development company. A BDC is a fund that provides individual investors the opportunity to invest in private equity and private debt offerings.

Some BDCs, such as Apollo Investment Corp. and BlackRock Kelso Capital Corp., are publicly traded. However, FS Investments Corp.’s shares will not be publicly traded, the company said. FS Investment Corp.’s offering will be the first “non-listed” public offering by a BDC, according to FS Investment Corp.’s legal counsel, Sutherland partners Steven Boehm and Cynthia Krus in Washington.

FS Investment Corp., based in Philadelphia, said in regulatory filings that it plans to offer equity and debt investments in small and medium-sized, privately owned U.S. companies.

FS² Capital Partners is affiliated with FS Investment Corp. FS Investment Corp. was formerly known as Franklin Square Investment Corp.

Alston & Bird partners Mark Rusche and Alison Jones were the legal advisers to Prudential Real Estate Investors on the $20.5 million sale of an assisted living home in Dallas, according to Rusche.

Prudential sold the Caruth Haven [photo, right] assisted living facility in the Highland Park neighborhood of Dallas to Cornerstone Growth & Income REIT Inc. Caruth Haven is a 75,000-square-foot property with 91 residential units. It’s located near NorthPark Center, the largest shopping center in northern Texas, according to a news release. Foley & Lardner advised Irvine, Calif.-based Cornerstone.