RESTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today WashingtonFirst Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFBI) (the “Company”) announced that it has raised approximately $20 million in equity through a private placement of 1,377,219 shares of newly issued common stock at a price of $15.00 per share (“Private Placement”). The newly issued common stock includes both voting and non-voting common stock and brings the Company’s total outstanding shares to 9,565,637 shares. Purchasers of stock in the Private Placement consisted of various institutional investors that were existing stockholders of the Company.
The Company intends to utilize the new capital primarily to support the continued growth of its wholly-owned subsidiary, WashingtonFirst Bank (the “Bank”). The Bank recently opened its 17th branch, in McLean, Virginia, and the Company recently reported that its loan portfolio had grown by 22% in the first nine months of 2014. In addition to supporting the Bank’s continued growth, the Company may – subject to regulatory approval – use some of the offering proceeds to redeem a portion of the preferred stock issued to the Treasury pursuant to the Small Business Lending Fund program.
“We are delighted that a number of our existing institutional shareholders have confidence in the Company and were interested in participating in this Private Placement. This new capital will help the Company continue to grow and realize our goals,” said Shaza L. Andersen, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
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