Republic First Bancorp has rejected a petition by a large shareholder to nominate a candidate for the Philadelphia company’s board.
The $5.6 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing that Philip Norcross sent notice that he planned to nominate Gregory Braca for consideration at the next annual meeting, which is set for January.
Republic First said in a letter to Norcross that the notice was “incurably deficient and … there invalid.” The company added in the filing that the notice “fails to comply with applicable requirements for making director nominations,” as determined by its articles of incorporation and its amended and restated bylaws.
Republic First said in a letter rejecting the nomination that Norcross is not a record holder of its stock and wasn’t on its registered list of shareholders. The company also asserted that Norcross made a “materially false representation” that he is a record holder.
The company said that any other nominations will be “disregarded” because the Nov. 14 deadline has passed.
The Norcross-Braca group and Republic First have quarreled in recent months, even after the resignation of former CEO Vernon Hill. Efforts to reach a compromise have so far been unsuccessful.