SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Equity [Abstract]

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

On January 18, 2017, the Company issued 128,572 unregistered shares of its common stock to William J. Villari in exchange for 4.99% of the outstanding shares of common stock of USPF. A registration statement was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2017 to register the resale or other disposition of these shares. The issuance of the 128,572 common shares was valued at $45.45 per share, resulting in an increase in shareholders’ equity of $5.8 million. For additional information regarding the investment in USPF, see Note 2.

On March 6, 2017, the Company completed an underwritten public offering of 2,012,500 shares of the Company’s common stock at a price to the public of $46.50 per share. The Company received net proceeds from the issuance of approximately $88.7 million, after deducting $4.9 million in underwriting discounts and commissions and other issuance costs.

In March 2017, the Company made a capital contribution to the Bank in the amount of $110.0 million, using the net proceeds of the March 6, 2017 issuance of common stock as well as a portion of the net proceeds of the March 13, 2017 issuance of the Company’s 5.75% Fixed-To-Floating Rate Subordinated Notes due 2027 discussed in Note 14.

On January 3, 2018, the Company completed the purchase of an additional 25.01% of the outstanding shares of common stock of USPF from William J. Villari pursuant to a Stock Purchase Agreement dated December 29, 2017. In exchange for such shares, the Company paid Mr. Villari $12.5 million and issued to him 114,285 unregistered shares of Ameris common stock in a private placement transaction. For additional information regarding the investment in USPF, see Note 2.