Investors have been mistakenly dumping their stakes in Republic First Bancorp this month – all because they confused it with the troubled lender First Republic.
Shares of Pennsylvania-based Republic First have plunged greater than 30% for the reason that start of the month as fears of a systemic meltdown engulfed San Francisco-based First Republic and other overextended regional banks, Bloomberg was first to report Friday.
The combo-up has caused such a difficulty that Republic Bank CEO and President Thomas Geisel penned a public plea earlier this month outlining the differences between the 2 lenders and their business models – starting with the plain.
Republic First Bancorp’s retail locations operate under the name “Republic Bank.”
“Amid the whole lot happening, Republic Bank would really like to make very clear: we’re Republic Bank, Inc. (FRBK-Red/Blue Logo); we’re NOT First Republic Bank (FRC-Green Logo),” Geisel says within the letter.
“Republic Bank could be very different; we DO NOT lend to start-ups and will not be involved in Crypto,” Geisel added. “We lend primarily to established businesses. We lend against collateral and money flow, we lend to profitable firms that may service the debt, and we typically have personal guarantees.”
First Republic received a $30 billion lifeline this month.Christopher Sadowski
Republic First has no ties to First Republic, which received a $30 billion rescue lifeline from the nation’s largest banks after a large outflow of deposits placed it in peril of collapse, and doesn’t look like experiencing the identical challenges to its business.
Nevertheless, Republic First’s stock plunged by as much as 28% on March 17, the day First Republic’s rescue was announced.
It was Republic First’s largest intraday decline in nearly three many years.
Republic First Bancorp. is headquartered in Pennsylvania. AP
Republic First’s client base consists primarily of companies and retail customers, while First Republic built its troubled business on lending to wealthy individuals.
Republic First’s stock was trading greater than 13% higher on Friday, perhaps as investors began to understand the difference.
Bloomberg noted that Republic First initially tried to call itself “First Republic” after a 1996 merger, but backed off and switched the words after facing pushback from the unique.
Republic First shares have plunged this month.Google Finance
This isn’t the primary time that two similarly named entities have found themselves at odds.
As The Post reported last July, Facebook parent Meta faced a lawsuit last yr after one other company, virtual reality firm Meta.is, accused it of violating “fundamental mental property rights.”
