Center Financial Plans Private Placement

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Center Financial Corp. said late Wednesday that it has entered into agreements with certain institutional investors, insiders and friends of the company for a preferred stock sale it expects will raise $73.5 million.

In preparation for the transaction, the Los Angeles holding company of Center Bank said it completed a detailed financial review, and now estimates it will report a net loss of about $25 million in the fourth quarter.

The capital raise will be executed through private placement of 73,500 shares, priced at price of $1,000 per share, of what the bank labeled Series B mandatorily convertible non-cumulative non-voting perpetual preferred stock.

Chief Executive Jae Whan Yoo said in a statement that the stock sale was oversubscribed, with strong demand from both institutional investors and the Korean-American community that the bank largely serves.

“We believe this exemplifies the market and our community’s overall confidence that Center Financial has the right management team in place taking the appropriate actions to successfully navigate through the current economic storm,” Yoo said.

Center Financial said that it and Center Bank had reached memorandums of understanding with regulatory agencies to further strengthen financials by reducing classified assets, increasing capital levels, requesting prior regulatory approval to pay dividends and other actions.

Center Financial closed down 11 cents, or 2 percent, to $5.12 on the Nasdaq prior to the announcement.

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