Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati will record a gain of $9 million during the fourth quarter after selling shares in the payment processor Vantiv.
The $143 billion-asset Fifth Third said Tuesday that it sold 5.65 million shares of Vantiv in a series of stock transactions. Once the deal is complete, Fifth Third will hold a 17.9% equity stake in the company, down from 18.3%.
In connection with the sale, Fifth Third will lose one of its two current seats on the 12-member Vantiv board. The company did not specify which of its two appointed directors will resign.
Two senior Fifth Third executives currently serve on the Vantiv board: Chief Financial Officer Tayfun Tazaun and Chief Operating Officer Lars Anderson.
"We continue to take a deliberate and thoughtful approach to reducing our ownership interests in Vantiv," Chief Executive Greg Carmichael said in a press release Tuesday.
Fifth Third has said in recent months that, over time, it plans to scale back its equity stake in the payments company, which it spun off in 2009. Vantiv became a public company in 2012.
Over the past seven years, Fifth Third has realized more than $525 million in gains from the sale of its Vantiv stake, according to the release.
