Roundup: Target's Shareholders Reject AmSouth Bid

TAMPA - Shareholders of The Tampa Banking Co., holding company for The Bank of Tampa, rejected a proposed acquisition by AmSouth Bancorp, The Bank of Tampa said.

In a published statement, Tampa Banking chairman G. Robert Blanchard said the shareholders were concerned that AmSouth's depressed stock price made the deal less attractive.

AmSouth had reached an agreement in February to acquire Bank of Tampa, which has $219 million of assets, in a stock exchange valued at $32.3 million. The agreed-upon price was high - 2.37 times Bank of Tampa's book value - but the value of AmSouth's stock has fallen about 10% since then due to weak earnings related to dilution from other AmSouth acquisitions in Florida.

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