First Republic Announces Common Stock Offering

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- First Republic Bank ("First Republic") FRC, a leading private bank and wealth management company, today announced that it has agreed to sell 3,500,000 shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. First Republic has also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 525,000 shares from First Republic at the public offering price less the underwriting discount.  The last reported sale price of its common stock on March 17, 2014 was $53.22 per share. BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Securities are serving as joint bookrunning managers.

First Republic intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, funding loans or purchasing investment securities for its portfolio. This offering represents the first common equity primary issuance by First Republic since its initial public offering on December 8, 2010.

Closing of the offering is expected to occur on or about March 21, 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. As the record date for First Republic's Annual Meeting of Shareholders is March 18, 2014, investors will not be eligible to vote shares of common stock purchased in this offering at the upcoming meeting.

The offering will be made only by means of an offering circular. The preliminary offering circular relating to the offering is available at www.frc-offering.com. Copies of the preliminary offering circular may also be obtained from BofA Merrill Lynch, 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, attention: Prospectus Department, or e-mail dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com, phone: 1-800-294-1322; or from or from J.P. Morgan Securities, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, or by calling toll-free at (866) 803-9204.

About First Republic Bank

Founded in 1985, First Republic and its subsidiaries offer private banking, private business banking and private wealth management, including investment, trust and brokerage services. First Republic specializes in delivering exceptional, relationship-based service, with a solid commitment to responsiveness and action. Services are offered through preferred banking or wealth management offices primarily in San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, San Diego, Portland, Boston, Palm Beach, Greenwich, and New York City. First Republic offers a complete line of banking products for individuals and businesses, including deposit services, as well as residential, commercial and personal loans.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The securities are neither insured nor approved by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements about First Republic's expectations, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "anticipates," "believes," "can," "could," "may," "predicts," "potential," "should," "will," "estimate," "plans," "projects," "continuing," "ongoing," "expects," "intends" and similar words or phrases. Accordingly, these statements are only predictions and involve estimates, known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in them. All forward-looking statements are necessarily only estimates of future results, and there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations, and, therefore, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in the section titled "Risk Factors" in First Republic's preliminary offering circular relating to this offering, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, and other risks described in documents subsequently filed by First Republic from time to time. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and First Republic undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE First Republic Bank