Cathay General Bancorp announces stock offering

Cathay General Bancorp launches $70.5 million stock offering

• On 4:51 pm EDT, Monday October 12, 2009

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Bank holding company Cathay General Bancorp Inc. said Monday it has begun a public offering of up to $70.5 million in common stock.

The company also granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to $10.5 million more shares in the event demand exceeds initial supply.

BofA Merrill Lynch is the bookrunner for the offering. At Monday's closing price of $9.07, the stock offering could total up to about 8.9 million shares.

The company currently has about 53.1 million shares outstanding.

Cathay General Bancorp is the holding company for Cathay Bank, a California state-chartered bank with branches in California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Washington, Illinois and New Jersey. The company has also has a bank in Hong Kong and offices in Shanghai and in Taipei.