WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (October 8, 2009) – The corporate and securities practice groups of Gunster, Attorneys at Law, recently completed the $80.5 million public offering of the common stock of 1st United Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for 1st United Bank, a Florida chartered commercial bank. The original offering anticipated a maximum of $50 million in common stock, however the offering was increased by $20 million due to a high degree of investor interest in the bank. In addition, the underwriters’ exercised their over-allotment option in full to purchase an additional $10.5 million in common stock. Compared to peer institutions, 1st United Bank has a low number of non-performing loans.
“While the financial services industry has experienced widespread uncertainty in the market, this strong public offering is a clear expression of the level of confidence sophisticated investors have in the 1st United’s management team, which has a solid depth of experience and an excellent track record,” said Michael V. Mitrione, a corporate attorney and shareholder in Gunster’s West Palm Beach office who has chaired the firm’s corporate law department for more than 20 years.
Gunster’s team was led by Mitrione, David C. Scileppi and Marybeth Bosko, with additional support provided by Howard Burnston and Robert Arzonetti. They completed the public offering process in less than two months, which is about half the anticipated time frame.
1st United’s 16.1 million shares of common stock were priced at $5.00 per share, and the company said in a press release that it “… intends to utilize the net proceeds from the offering to redeem some or all of its outstanding preferred stock, support anticipated balance sheet growth, finance possible future acquisitions of failed institutions that the FDIC has placed into receivership, finance possible future acquisitions of other financial institutions or their branches in negotiated transactions, and for general corporate purposes.”
About Gunster
Established in 1925, Gunster is a full-service Florida law firm with eight offices around the state, providing counsel to leading businesses and individuals. Our statewide presence and culture reflect the firm’s status as Florida’s lawyers for business. Gunster services clients from its offices in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Vero Beach and its headquarters in West Palm Beach, with 140 attorneys and 200 committed support staff.
