Greenville-based Southern First Bancshares has repurchased all remaining shares of preferred stock tied to the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Southern First Bancshares – the holding company for Southern First Bank – was trading at $15.70 under the ticker symbol SFST on the Nasdaq global market.
The preferred stock repurchase signifies the bank’s exit from the TARP program, a federal initiative designed to strengthen the U.S. financial structure in 2008. The company repurchased 11,242 shares at $1,000 from third-party investors.
The $1 billion-asset company originally issued 17,299 shares of preferred stock to the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2009 for an aggregate purchase price of $17.3 million, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Treasury sold its series-T stock through a public offering to a third party for $904 per share (compared to a par value of $1,000 per share) and Southern First repurchased 1,000 shares of the 17,299 through the auction process in 2012.
In January 2013, the bank repurchased 1,000 outstanding shares from three of its preferred shareholders, and in January 2014 it redeemed 4,057 shares from two of its preferred shareholders.
Southern First Bancshares is the holding company for Southern First Bank, the sixth-largest bank headquartered in South Carolina, according to the company.
