MOULTRIE — Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ-GS: ABCB), today announced it has redeemed the last of its preferred stock – totaling $28 million – issued originally under the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program.
The company said it was able to redeem the stock without incuring any additional debt or issuing stock by using excess capital from its bank subsidiary, Ameris Bank.
“This final redemption of the TARP preferred stock brings to a close an important strategy for Ameris,” said said president and CEO Edwin W. Hortman, Jr. “As the economic crisis began to unfold, we vigorously increased our capital levels and were in a position to benefit from opportunities during the downturn.”
He said it was “an important achievement for us to have been able to repay the entire $52 million of funds without issuing common stock or taking on additional borrowings.”
Ameris announced March 11 it has bought The Coastal Bank, a 60-year-old Savannah institution. Ameris said it was signing a merger agreement with Coastal Bankshares, Coastal Bank’s parent company, in an all-stock deal worth $36.7 million.
Founded in 1971, Ameris Bank is a large regional community bank spread across four southeastern states — Georgia, Alabama, northern Florida and South Carolina. They expanded their presence in the Savannah area around 2010 after taking over troubled Darby Bank & Trust, which had locations in Vidalia and Pooler — and whose risky lending activity extended into Savannah.