TIB's rugged legacy doesn't stop investors

You'll have to forgive the legacy shareholders of TIB Financial for not diving into a stock offering of the new Naples-based banking company.

But TIB should be pleased with any vote of confidence from existing shareholders.

North American Financial Holdings of Charlotte, N.C., acquired 99% of the company by diluting away the shares of existing shareholders last summer in return for rescuing the bank-holding company and investing $175 million in the firm.

As part of the deal, North American agreed to offer legacy shareholders the opportunity to buy shares in the company in January at a discount, selling about one-third of the shares it was offering them by the Jan. 18 deadline. According to a statement, legacy shareholders bought 533,029 shares out of a total 1,488,792 offered them.

The effort raised $8 million, a decent amount considering the devastation in the banking industry.