NOTE 15. PREFERRED STOCK

On November 21, 2008, Ameris sold 52,000 shares of preferred stock with a warrant to purchase 679,443 shares of the Company’s common stock to the U.S. Treasury under the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program. The proceeds from the sale of $52 million were allocated between the preferred stock and the warrant based on their relative fair values at the time of the sale. Of the $52 million in proceeds, $48.98 million was allocated to the preferred stock and $3.02 million was allocated to the warrant. The discount recorded on the preferred stock that resulted from allocating a portion of the proceeds to the warrant was accreted as a portion of the preferred stock dividends in the consolidated statements of income to arrive at net income (loss) available to common shareholders.

The preferred stock qualified as Tier I capital and paid cumulative dividends at a rate of 5% per annum for the first five years and 9% per annum thereafter. The preferred stock was redeemable at any time at $1,000 per share plus any accrued and unpaid dividends with the consent of the Company’s primary federal regulator.

On June 14, 2012, the preferred stock was sold by the Treasury through a registered public offering. The sale of the preferred stock to new investors did not result in any accounting entries and did not change the Company’s capital position. On August 22, 2012, the Company repurchased the warrant from the Treasury for $2.67 million. During the fourth quarter of 2012, the Company repurchased 24,000 shares of the outstanding preferred stock at par, leaving 28,000 shares of preferred stock outstanding at December 31, 2013. During the first quarter of 2014, the Company repurchased the remaining 28,000 shares of the outstanding preferred stock at par.