Bank of the Ozarks Inc. on Wednesday announced that it had repurchased the $75 million in preferred stock issued as part of the Capital Purchase Program.
The Little Rock bank holding company received the money from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Dec. 12, 2008.
George Gleason, chairman and CEO of Bank of the Ozarks, talked about the reasons for issuing the preferred stock in an April interview with Arkansas Business: "For us, the decision boils down to this: It provided us with additional opportunities to make investments, grow loans and possibly participating in acquiring a failed FDIC institution."
Gleason indicated if the opportunities necessary to put the $75 million to work didn't pan out the bank would cash out the preferred shares held by Uncle Sam and return to business as usual.
"The decision to accept the money and to return it came with considerable discussion on what was best for the shareholders," Susan Blair, EVP at Bank of the Ozarks, told ArkansasBusiness.com on Wednesday afternoon.
Bank of the Ozarks reported total assets of $2.9 billion in total assets as of Sept. 30. The company operates 73 offices in 34 communities throughout northern, western and central Arkansas, six Texas banking location and a loan production office in Charlotte, N.C.
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