FirstBank Retires Remaining Tarp Debt

FirstBank (FBMI) in Alma, Mich., has redeemed its remaining shares issued in exchange for funds through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The $1.5 billion-asset company said Monday it had paid $17 million to buy back the shares from investors who bought them in an auction last year. FirstBank received $33 million from Tarp in January 2009.

The company has redeemed all of the preferred stock and warrants it issued in connection with Tarp. "This redemption marks a key milestone in our company's successful navigation of the 'great recession,'" Thomas Sullivan, FirstBank's chief executive, said in a press release.

Last year, FirstBank bought back nearly half the shares it issued to Treasury in return for Tarp funds.

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