The Treasury Department has significantly reduced its stake in Broadway Financial in Los Angeles.
The $413 million-asset Broadway disclosed in a regulatory filing that the Treasury sold about 4.7 million shares of its common stock at $1.59 each. Broadway bought 2.3 million of the shares, while the company's employee stock-ownership plan bought 1.4 million. First Republic Bank purchased roughly 834,000 shares of Broadway stock from the Treasury.
The sales reduced the Treasury's stake from 47.4% of total voting shares to 29.3%.
Separately, First Republic bought about 738,000 shares of Broadway's nonvoting common stock for $1.59 each. Broadway said it used the proceeds from the sale to finance its repurchase of stock from the Treasury. Broadway bought about 139,000 shares of its voting stock from Bank of Hope, a unit of Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles, and the National Community Investment Fund, for $1.59 each. Broadway also issued about 347,000 shares of its nonvoting stock to CJA Private Equity Financial and National Community Investment Fund in exchange for the same number of voting shares.
Broadway is transitioning its "stockholder base to return the capital invested by the U.S. Treasury, and replace that capital with investments by private institutions and individuals committed to supporting Broadway's mission," CEO Wayne Bradshaw said in a press release.
