NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 3, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avenue Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVNU ) ("Avenue Financial" or "the Company") announced today that it redeemed its Series C Preferred Stock for $18.9 million from the U.S. Treasury. The Company used proceeds from its initial public stock offering and private placement of subordinated debt to redeem the preferred stock.
"We are pleased to complete the redemption of our preferred stock as planned following the closing of our successful initial public stock offering earlier this month," stated Ronald L. Samuels, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This transaction follows our private placement of $20 million in subordinated debt in December 2014 and raising an additional $14.7 million in net proceeds from the stock offering. We expect the additional proceeds from these transactions to strengthen our capital ratios and be an important part in funding Avenue Financial's continued growth."
The Company redeemed in full all of the outstanding shares of Series C Preferred Stock from the U.S. Treasury for $18.95 million effective March 27, 2015. The Series C Preferred Stock was issued by the U.S. Treasury as part of its Small Business Lending Fund. The Series C Preferred Stock had a dividend rate of 1% per annum as of the redemption date.
About Avenue Financial Holdings, Inc.
Avenue Financial Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, was formed as a single-bank holding company in 2006 and operates primarily through its subsidiary, Avenue Bank. The Company's operations are concentrated in the Nashville MSA, with the vision of building Nashville's signature bank and serving clients who value creativity, expertise, and an exceptional level of personal service. Avenue Bank embodies Nashville's creative spirit - redefining how clients experience banking through a unique "Concierge Banking" model. The bank provides a wide range of business and personal banking services, including mortgage loans, with a special emphasis on Commercial, Private Client, Healthcare, and Music & Entertainment banking. The Company serves clients through five locations (a corporate headquarters and four retail branches), a limited deposit courier service (mobile branch) for select commercial clients, and mobile and online banking services.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "may," "should," "could," "predict," "potential," "believe," "will likely result," "expect," "continue," "will," "anticipate," "seek," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "projection," "would," and "outlook," or the negative version of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by management, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Accordingly, we caution you that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date made, actual results may prove to be materially different from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. There are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements, including, but are not limited to, the following: market and economic conditions (including interest rate environment, levels of public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, or M&A, and venture capital financing activities) and the associated impact on us; changes in management personnel; deterioration of our asset quality; our overall management of interest rate risk, including managing the sensitivity of our interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities to interest rates, and the impact to earnings from a change in interest rates; our ability to execute our strategy and to achieve organic loan and deposit growth; the adequacy of reserves (including allowance for loan and lease losses) and the appropriateness of our methodology for calculating such reserves; volatility and direction of market interest rates; the sufficiency of our capital, including sources of capital (such as funds generated through retained earnings) and the extent to which capital may be used or required; our overall investment plans, strategies and activities, including our investment of excess cash/liquidity; operational, liquidity and credit risks associated with our business; increased competition in the financial services industry, nationally, regionally or locally, which may adversely affect pricing and terms; the level of client investment fees and associated margins; changes in the regulatory environment; changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws; governmental legislation and regulation, including changes in accounting regulation or standards, the nature and timing of the adoption and effectiveness of new requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel guidelines, capital requirements and other applicable laws and regulations; changes in interpretation of existing law and regulation; further government intervention in the U.S. financial system; and other factors that are discussed under the heading "Risk Factors." in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The foregoing factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included in our registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 9, 2015, as amended. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement .
Barbara J. Zipperian Chief Financial Officer (615) 736-7786
