U.S. Century's Shareholders Approve Sale to C1 Bank in Florida

Shareholders of U.S. Century were finally able to approve the Florida bank's sale.

A U.S. Century spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday that the $1.3 billion-asset bank's shareholders approved the sale to C1 Bank in St. Petersburg, Fla.

U.S. Century's shareholder meeting late Tuesday was originally set for Oct. 30 but Hurricane Sandy prevented the bank's financial advisors in New York from attending. The bank also said that had to address an "issue" with the merger agreement. Reports later found that the Treasury Department had rejected C1 Bank's initial offer to redeem U.S. Century's $50 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds at a discount.

The $900 million-asset C1 Bank first agreed to pay off U.S. Century's Tarp at a 90% discount in addition to injecting $100 million into the struggling bank. But the Treasury rejected the discount, as first reported by the South Florida Business Journal. C1 Bank then amended the agreement, requesting an 87.5% discount to redeem the Tarp.

U.S. Century spokeswoman Ileana C. Portal said the amended request is still pending with the Treasury. The deal also needs approval by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which Portal says they "expect very soon" now that shareholders have approved the deal. The bank remains on target for its expected closing date of Dec. 31, she said.