Anchor in Wisconsin Plans Return to Nasdaq

Anchor Bancorp Wisconsin in Madison plans to return to the Nasdaq through an offering of common stock after it restructured debt by filing for bankruptcy.

The $2.2 billion company said in a regulatory filing last week that it will offer $10 million of common stock. Some shares will be sold by Anchor and others by existing shareholders; Anchor did not disclose the price, sale date or number of shares to be offered.

The planned sale was reported Tuesday in the Wisconsin State Journal. Anchor executives were not immediately available to provide further details on the planned sale, a company spokeswoman said.

After the sale, Anchor said it intends to list on the Nasdaq as "ABCW," the same stock symbol it used previously. Anchor's common stock was extinguished in when the company was reorganized in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.

Anchor did not say how it intends to use the money it raises. Sandler O'Neill is the underwriter.

Holding companies have increasingly been filing for bankruptcy as a means to recapitalize troubled banks, a process that often results in the company auctioning the bank off to a new owner.

Anchor's Chapter 11 plan allowed the company to recapitalize without an auction. The process allowed Anchor to repay its creditors at a steep discount and convert $139 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program debt into common stock. The company also received $175 million in new capital.

Anchor said earlier this month that it earned a $10.3 million profit at the bank level in the third quarter.