Equity Bancshares Seeks to Buy Kansas Rival's Tarp Shares

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., may use the Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy a stake in an in-state rival.

The $1.2 billion-asset company recently told the Kansas City Business Journal that it hopes to bid for the Tarp-related preferred shares of Blue Valley Ban Corp (BVBC) in Overland Park, Kan.

Blue Valley issued the shares in December 2008 to the Treasury Department in return for $21.75 million in Tarp aid. Blue Valley has yet to redeem the shares, which represent roughly 55% of its total equity.

Blue Valley has five locations in the Kansas City area and $656.4 million in assets. Equity has 29 branches throughout Kansas and Missouri, including eight branches around Kansas City.

Equity, which says its purchase of the preferred shares would give it a majority stake of Blue Valley's total equity, recently filed an application with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City for permission to bid for the shares.

Though the shares cannot be converted to common stock, they give their owner the right to appoint two directors to Blue Valley's board. That could give Equity a voice in the oversight of Blue Valley.

Blue Valley is downplaying the possible scenario. "From our perspective, I don't know that it makes a whole lot of difference to us if the government owns it or they own it," Bob Regnier, Blue Valley's president, told the business journal. "There are going to be other bidders; we're pretty confident about that. So they're just one of many."

Blue Valley says it intends to assemble its own group of investors to bid on its shares. Some Tarp recipients have bid on their own shares, sometimes at a discount.

Equity also stands to gain if Blue Valley were able to later buy back the debt. "We think it's a good financial play," Brad Elliott, Equity's chief executive, told the Kansas City Star in March.

Neither a spokesman for Equity nor a spokesman for Blue Valley responded immediately to a request for comment.

Treasury, which is seeking to unwind its ownership stakes in roughly 173 community banks that received funds through Tarp, is expected to sell the shares sometime this year, although spokeswoman Suzanne Elio tells American Banker that Treasury has not set a date for a sale.

Elio did not comment on the prospect of Blue Valley bidding on its own debt.

Treasury also holds a warrant to purchase roughly 111,000 shares of Blue Valley's common stock for $29.37 per share. Blue Valley's stock was trading over the counter at $7.56 per share on Monday.