Regional Management shares rise in NYSE debut

[March 29, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of consumer loan company Regional Management Corp. are rising in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Greenville, S.C.-based company's stock was up $1.60, or 10.7 percent, to $16.60 in afternoon trading Wednesday. The shares had risen as high as $17.72 per share earlier in the session.

The offering of 4.2 million shares had been priced late Tuesday at $15 per share. That was below earlier expectations that they would be priced at between $17 and $19 per share. The sale raised $63 million before expenses.

Regional Management offered nearly 3 million shares of common stock, while selling shareholders offered 1.2 million shares.

Regional Management provides an array of loan products to customers with limited access to traditional lenders. The company said it will use most of its share of the offering's proceeds to reduce debt.

The offering's underwriters have a 30-day option to buy an additional 175,000 shares from the company and 455,000 shares from selling stockholders on the same terms and conditions.

Jefferies & Company Inc. and Stephens Inc. are joint book-running managers of the offering. JMP Securities LLC and BMO Capital Markets Corp. are joint lead managers

[Associated Press]

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