Overview
The Barack Ferrazzano Financial Institutions Group served as legal counsel to the placement agents connected to Equity Bancshares, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: EQBK) ("Equity") – holding company of Equity Bank – issuance of $33 million aggregate principal amount of fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes due 2030 (the “Notes”) to certain institutional accredited investors and qualified institutional buyers in a private placement transaction. The offering is a further issuance of 7.0% fixed-to-floating rate subordinated notes, due 2030, issued on June 29, 2020, and form a single series with, and are identical in all material respects to, the $42 million aggregate principal amount of outstanding notes, totaling $75 million raised.
The Notes are intended to qualify as Tier 2 capital for regulatory capital purposes and will initially bear interest at a fixed annual rate of 7.0%, payable semi-annually in arrears to, but excluding, June 30, 2025. From and including June 30, 2025, to, but excluding, the maturity date or early redemption date, the interest rate will reset quarterly to an interest rate per annum equal to the then-current three-month term SOFR (provided, that in the event the three-month term SOFR is less than zero, the three-month term SOFR will be deemed to be zero) plus 688 basis points, payable quarterly in arrears. Equity is entitled to redeem the Notes – in whole or in part – on any interest payment date on or after June 30, 2025, and to redeem the Notes at any time in whole upon certain other specified events. The Egan-Jones Ratings Company assigned an investment grade rating of BBB to the Notes.
Regarding the issuance and sale of the Notes, Equity entered into a registration rights agreement with the purchasers of the Notes pursuant to which Equity has agreed to take certain actions to provide for the exchange of the Notes for subordinated notes that are registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), with substantially the same terms as the Notes. Additional proceeds from this transaction will provide the company opportunistic capital for organic and strategic growth, benefitting customers and communities Equity serves.
Barack Ferrazzano’s team was led by Robert M. Fleetwood, Bill Fay, and Neil R. Patel. Since March, the Financial Institutions Group has been engaged in 18 such offerings totaling over $1.5 billion in capital for the industry, many of which are still ongoing.
To learn more about this transaction, visit: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/07/23/2066967/0/en/Equity-Bancshares-Inc-Announces-Completion-of-Additional-33-Million-Subordinated-Notes-Offering-Raising-a-Total-of-75-Million.html
About Equity Bancshares, Inc.
Equity Bancshares, Inc. is the holding company for Equity Bank, serving communities across Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Equity offers a full range of financial solutions, including commercial loans, consumer banking, mortgage loans, trust and wealth management services, and treasury management services, while delivering the high-quality, relationship-based customer service of a community bank.
To learn more, visit: https://www.equitybank.com/connect/about-us