Lender Republic First loses planned $35 mln funding as investors back out

Republic First Bancorp

29/02/2024 12:16

Feb 29 (Reuters) - A group that had agreed to invest $35
million into Philadelphia's Republic First Bancorp  FRBK.PK  has
terminated its offer, the bank disclosed in a regulatory filing
on Thursday.
    The group, consisting of veteran businessman George
Norcross, high-profile attorney Philip Norcross and former TD
Bank  TD.TO  executive Gregory Braca, cited "failure" of the
bank to "take actions and satisfy closing conditions" as the
reason behind their move.
    Republic failed to file its 2022 annual report with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and schedule the required
shareholder meeting to approve the deal within the extended
deadline of Feb. 29 for completion of the transaction, the
investor group said. 
    The bank cut jobs last year to reduce costs and exited its
mortgage origination business. Its shares were delisted from the
Nasdaq in August and now trade over the counter.

 (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini
Ganguli)
 ((Niket.Nishant@thomsonreuters.com;))