(Crain's) — Wintrust Financial Corp. is moving to become the first locally based, mid-sized bank to repay its federal bailout funds.
The Lake Forest-based bank holding company announced after the stock market’s close Monday that it’s beginning a public offering of 3.2 million shares of common stock and another 4 million hybrid debt and equity securities.
It intends to use the proceeds to redeem its $250 million in preferred shares held by the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Wintrust sold the shares to the Treasury Department in December 2008. If it’s successful raising the capital to repay the feds, the $14-billion-asset bank holding company can brag that it’s the first mid-sized bank in the Chicago market to do so — a sign of strength.
Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp., Chicago’s largest headquartered bank, which is focused on handling the estates of the wealthy and serving institutional investors, redeemed its TARP shares last year.
Most other mid-sized commercial banks in the area have signaled to investors that they’re not in any hurry to repay their bailout funds.