Rogers Bancshares to Sell Metropolitan National Bank
by July 5, 2013 4:20 pm 157 views
Rogers Bancshares, the holding company for Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock, announced late Friday it has signed a definitive agreement with private equity firm Ford Financial Fund II LP of Dallas to purchase and recapitalize the bank.
Gerald J. Ford and Carl B. Webb are the co-managers of Ford Financial, which will make the investment in the name of its wholly owned subsidiary, LR Acquisition Company LLC, according to a press release.
Ford Financial has raised $750 million to invest in U.S. banks, and the group’s first investment will be used to recapitalize MNB, one of the Arkansas’ largest banks with $1 billion in total assets.
“We have been working diligently for several years to secure a strategic partner with a shared vision and commitment to move forward Metropolitan’s unique brand of banking,” MNB president and CEO Lunsford Bridges said in the release. “The capital investment will be the final step in achieving full compliance with the regulatory order we’ve been operating under since May 2008, and will provide substantial capital to facilitate lending and business development in the communities we serve.”
“Metropolitan is an outstanding community bank with a solid footprint and reputation in Arkansas,” Ford said. “Our combined resources and expertise will result in long-term success and growth.”
According to the release, Ford and Webb are expected to become members of the MNB board of directors when the transaction is finalized.
To facilitate transaction, Rogers Bancshares will voluntarily file a petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.
Consistent with the court’s procedure under Section 363 of the Code, the court will supervise a competitive bidding process for the purchase of the Bank’s common stock.
The Chapter 11 filing affects only the holding company and does not affect MNB.
“It is important for our customers, employees and the community to know that Metropolitan National Bank, which operates separately from the holding company, is not a part of the Chapter 11 process,” Bridges said. “It will be business as usual at the bank.”