Blue Valley Ban Corp. repays TARP debt

Blue Valley Ban Corp. has closed the book on some federal assistance it received in 2008 during the Great Recession.

The Overland Park-based banking company said this week it had received regulatory approval to repay the debt it incurred from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, called TARP. Blue Valley borrowed $21.75 million through the program.

The payment went to private investors who bought Blue Valley’s securities from the U.S. Treasury in 2013.

“This is sort of ending one chapter and starting another,” said Robert Regnier, chairman and chief executive of Blue Valley, the parent company of the Bank of Blue Valley.

Regnier said Friday that receiving the TARP funds “gave us the strength and capital to get through a very difficult time during the downturn in the economy.”

The banking company said it paid off the TARP debt through a series of financing steps that included a loan and investments by Regnier and an unidentified investor.

As part of this transaction, Blue Valley said it also repaid accumulated dividends and interest.

Paying off the TARP debt is expected to reduce the company’s cost of capital by about $2 million a year, Blue Valley said in its announcement. Escaping from TARP is also symbolic.

“There is a perception that if you still have TARP, you still have problems,” Regnier said. “… The bank has been profitable and is moving forward. We’ve had good business development this year.”

The banking company recently announced an acquisition and is also considering opening more branches.

“We’ve got a lot of promise,” Regnier said. “Our future is bright.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Blue Valley Ban Corp. repays TARP debt."