Commerce Bank issues 6M depositary shares

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH) yesterday priced its public offering of 6 million depositary shares.

At $25 per share, the company expects to raise $150 million in proceeds by the expected closing date on June 19. The depositary shares represents 1/1000th interest in the company's preferred stock, according to a news release.

With the net proceeds, the holding company of seven Commerce Bank branches in Springfield plans to repurchase $200 million of its common stock from Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC.

To accommodate the purchase, Commerce increased the number of shares under its stock buyback program to 5 million, according to the release.

Commerce Bancshares held assets of $22.8 billion as of March 31. For the first quarter, its net income was $64.3 million, representing a 5.4 percent increase from earnings of $61 million in the same quarter of 2013, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

CBSH shares were trading at $45.51 as of 10:41 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $40.04 to $47.45.