A large investor in Republic First Bancorp wants the Philadelphia company to avoid selling right now.
A group including George Norcross and Gregory Braca wrote in a Sept. 16 letter to the $5.7 billion-asset Republic First’s board that it believes “a financially attractive proposal … is unlikely” due to the company’s financial position.
The group in the past has proposed appointing Braca as CEO and focusing more on lending in urban markets.
“A distressed firesale … at this time is not in the best interests of the shareholders,” the group said in its recent letter. “We … continue to believe a strategic proposal along the lines we have laid in out in prior communications is the better alternative for the company to pursue.”
Republic First said last week that it had begun a strategic review after receiving “inquiries by multiple parties expressing interest in one or more potential strategic transactions.”
Republic First said it had set up a strategic review committee to consider the inquiries and evaluate a range of potential transactions and alternative strategies.