Cap Markets

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., has agreed to buy a minority stake in Independent Alliance Banks in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The $2.2 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it redeemed $12.2 million, the remaining half of its SBLF shares, on Sept. 22 at a liquidation value of $1,000 each for $12.4 million.

Only a dozen banks still owe the government Troubled Asset Relief Program money, and an unspecified number of others including Reliance Bancshares in St. Louis owe investors who bought their Tarp balances. But Reliance has made problem loans vanish and has a credit line in hand to help retire its $62 million Tarp-related debt.

Home BancShares co-founder and Chairman John Allison is shrinking his ownership stake in the Conway, Ark., company for estate-planning purposes.

Farmers Capital Bank in Frankfort, Ky., has announced a plan to restructure its balance sheet.

CapStar Financial Holdings in Nashville, Tenn., expects to raise net proceeds of $16.6 million in an initial public offering that it plans to spend on growth and other initiatives — perhaps including M&A.

The high volume of commercial mortgages maturing this year has left some property owners scrambling for funds to refinance. Not so for these eight landlords, who took advantage of the strong price appreciation of their iconic office buildings, luxury hotels, super regional shopping malls, and a portfolio of rental homes, to cash out — in some cases, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars of equity. Bank commercial real estate lenders, who know all too well the cyclical nature of this sector, will want to take a close look at these transactions, details courtesy of our colleagues at Asset Securitization Report.

BankGuam Holding in Hagatna aims to raise $10 million through the sale of preferred stock.

The LegacyTexas Financial Group in Plano sold $50 million in debt to use for possible acquisitions and other purposes.

First Internet Bancorp in Fishers, Ind., said a chargeoff tied to a commercial and industrial loan will hurt its third-quarter results.