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.