Treasury Announces Private Auction to Sell Warrant Positions

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Treasury Announces Private Auction to Sell Warrant Positions


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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today that it will conduct an auction to sell, in private transactions principally involving qualified institutional buyers, its warrant positions in the following 17 financial institutions: Bank of Marin Bancorp; CoBiz Financial Inc.; Eagle Bancorp, Inc.; Encore Bancshares; F.N.B. Corporation; First Bancorp (of North Carolina); First Busey Corporation; First Community Bancshares, Inc.; 1st Constitution Bancorp; First Merchants Corporation; Horizon Bancorp; Lakeland Financial Corp; LCNB Corporation; Middleburg Financial Corporation; MidSouth Bancorp, Inc.; Westamerica Bancorporation; and Western Alliance Bancorporation. The proceeds of these sales will provide an additional return to the American taxpayer from Treasury’s investment in these financial institutions beyond the dividend payments it received on the related preferred stocks.

The auction will commence at 8 a.m., Eastern time, on November 17, 2011, and will close at 6:30 p.m., Eastern time, on that same day. During the auction period, appropriately qualified bidders will be able to submit bids at prices at or above the minimum bid price specified to them for each warrant position.

The warrants that are the subject of the auction have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration under, or an applicable exemption from, the registration requirements of the Act and applicable state securities law. Accordingly, the warrants will be offered in private transactions only to (1) “qualified institutional buyers” as defined in Rule 144A under the Act, (2) the issuer and (3) a limited number of “accredited investors” affiliated with the issuer. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the warrants or any other security (including the underlying shares of common stock), and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which, or to any persons to whom, such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.