WESTERLY, R.I., Dec. 16,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.
(Nasdaq: WASH) (the "Corporation"), parent company of The
Washington Trust Company, of Westerly (the "Bank"), today announced the
closing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of
1,911,764 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of
$34.00 per share. The 2,198,528
shares sold in the offering include 286,764 shares sold pursuant to
the exercise of the underwriters' purchase option. BofA Securities
is serving as the sole book-running manager for the offering.
The expected proceeds to the Corporation, after deducting
underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting
operating expenses payable by the Corporation, are approximately
$71.01 million. The Corporation
intends to use the net proceeds of this offering for general
corporate purposes to support continued organic growth and capital
generation, which are expected to include investments in the Bank
and Bank balance sheet optimization strategies involving the sale
of lower-yielding loans and available for sale debt securities, the
repayment of wholesale funding balances and the purchase of debt
securities with current market yields.
SPECIAL NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains statements that are "forward-looking
statements." Forward looking-statements include all statements that
are not historical facts and include any statements regarding the
intended use of net proceeds from the offering. We may also make
forward-looking statements in other documents we file with the SEC,
in our annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other
written materials, and in oral statements made by our officers,
directors, or employees. You can identify forward-looking
statements by the use of the words "believe," "expect,"
"anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "assume," "outlook," "will,"
"should," and other expressions that predict or indicate future
events and trends and which do not relate to historical matters.
Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from such
forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of factors that
could affect our results is included in the Corporation's SEC
filings, including Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of its Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2023. You should not rely on forward-looking statements,
because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and
other factors, some of which are beyond our control. These risks,
uncertainties, and other factors may cause our actual results,
performance, or achievements to be materially different from the
anticipated future results, performance, or achievements expressed
or implied by the forward-looking statements. The Corporation
undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to
conform the statement to actual results or changes in our
expectations, except as required by law.
ABOUT WASHINGTON TRUST
BANCORP, INC.
Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc., NASDAQ: WASH, is the
publicly-owned holding company of The Washington Trust Company
("Washington Trust", "the Bank"), with $7.1
billion in assets as of September 30,
2024. Founded in 1800, Washington Trust is recognized as the
oldest community bank in the nation, the largest state-chartered
bank headquartered in Rhode Island
and one of the Northeast's premier financial services companies.
Washington Trust values its role as a community bank and is
committed to helping the people, businesses, and organizations of
New England improve their financial lives. The Bank offers a wide
range of commercial banking, mortgage banking, personal banking and
wealth management services through its offices in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts and a full suite of convenient
digital tools. Washington Trust is a member of the FDIC and an
equal housing lender.
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SOURCE Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc.