United Community Banks sells shares

By Paul Donsky

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

United Community Banks, Georgia’s third-largest bank, said Wednesday it had closed on the sale of $222.5 million of the company’s shares.

The move is designed to shore up the Blairsville-based bank’s balance sheet, which has been hard hit by losses tied to the real estate industry. The bank had initially announced plans to raise $175 million, but demand was larger than expected, the company said in a news release. The company said it had sold 44.5 million shares at $5 per share.

The company’s stock price fell much of the past year, from a high of more than $15 a share last October to a low of $2.35 a share in March. The stock rallied across the $8 per share mark in early June before falling back to $5 a share at close Wednesday.

Jimmy Tallent, United’s president and CEO, said the stock sale “boosts the company’s already strong capital position. The response says a great deal about investor confidence in United’s long-term track record and opportunities ahead.”