UCBI third Ga. bank to get TARP money
Atlanta Business Chronicle
United Community Banks Inc. will receive $180 million from the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program, the company announced Tuesday.
The Blairsville, Ga.-based bank -- the state’s third-largest at $8 billion in total assets -- joins Georgia’s two other largest banks Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE: SNV) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) as the only local recipients of the federal money thus far.
The program is designed to infuse banks’ balance sheets with additional capital, aimed a spurring lending in the financial industry and propping up a sagging economy.
Synovus announced earlier this week it got preliminary approval for $973 million in Treasury investment, pending shareholder approval in December.
SunTrust has already received its $3.5 billion request from the federal government.
With the new infusion, United Community’s (NASDAQ: UCBI) capital ratios -- a key metric for measuring a bank’s health -- increase sharply.
United Community’s Tier 1 capital ratio will rise from 8.66 to 11.6 percent, while its total risk-based capital ratio will increase from 11.4 percent to 14.3 percent.
Bank CEO Jimmy Tallent said the bank will use the additional cash to fund loan growth and consider buyouts or other strategic moves.
The Treasury investment comes on the heels of roughly $42 million in private investment in the bank in the last few months, as United Community has written down souring real estate loans around metro Atlanta.
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