Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. of Nashville said Monday that it had canceled its two-for-one stock split, citing interpretive guidance of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123 indicating that the split would result in additional charges.
Harold Carpenter, the $1.8 billion-asset company's chief financial officer, said a law firm had alerted Pinnacle that under a new interpretation major accounting firms are now using, one of its stock option plans would be classified as "discretionary."
That meant the stock option grants would have to be revalued if Pinnacle moved forward with the stock split.
"Our board has decided that it was in the best interest of our company and our shareholders to cancel the split," Mr. Carpenter said in an interview.
The stock split plan was announced July 20. Mr. Carpenter said the company was informed of the new interpretation of FAS 123 shortly after the announcement of the split, which it had planned to execute Aug. 11.
Pinnacle is the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee. It has 18 branches there.
