A month after announcing plans to raise $20 million, Emclaire Financial Corp. in Emlenton, Pa., has called off its stock offering.
The $460 million-asset company cited poor pricing caused by unfavorable market conditions.
"The resulting potential dilution to our current shareholders would conflict with our goals," William C. Marsh, Emclaire's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a press release issued Friday.
The company's bank unit is well capitalized, so the offering was intended to be offensive measure. Emclaire had said the capital would be used for growth and possibly to repay the investment it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Marsh said that he remains upbeat about the Emclaire's growth prospects, even without the capital raise.
The company could launch the offering again if conditions improve, he said. It also could explore other alternatives for raising capital.
Emclaire is the second Northeast company in as many months to call off an offensive stock offering.
The $1.5 billion-asset Alliance Financial Corp. in Syracuse, N.Y., said in November that its $25 million offering had been "well received," but that market conditions had made the pricing unacceptable.
