Fidelity Southern Corp. is offering shares of its common stock in the hopes of raising money to buy back nearly $50 million in preferred shares it issued as part of a government bank bailout during the financial crisis.
The Atlanta banking company is offering $60 million of its common stock to repay the $48.2 million it owes for Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, funds. The shares were purchased by the U.S. Treasury in December 2008 and sold for $42.8 million last summer.
Fidelity also plans to purchase its fixed rate trust preferred securities; the outstanding principal is $20.5 million.
Nine Georgia institutions have yet to repay TARP. The largest is Synovus, the Columbus bank that borrowed nearly $1 billion.
