On June 30, 2023, George E. Norcross, III, Gregory B. Braca, Philip A. Norcross, Avery
Conner Capital Trust, a trust organized under the laws of the State of Florida (the “Avery Conner Capital Trust”), Susan D. Hudson, in her capacity as a Trustee of the Avery Conner Capital Trust, Geoffrey B. Hudson, in his capacity
as a Trustee of the Avery Conner Capital Trust and Rose M. Guida, in her capacity as a Trustee of the Avery Conner Capital Trust, issued the following press release:
Norcross Braca Group Issues Statement on Republic First’s Scheduling of Annual Shareholder Meeting
CAMDEN, NJ: The following is a statement from Gregory B. Braca, a member of the Norcross Braca group along with George E. Norcross, III and Philip A.
Norcross, regarding the announcement today that Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (FRBK) (“Republic First” or “Company”) has scheduled an annual shareholder meeting for October 5, 2023.
“Hopefully this annual meeting actually happens and the leadership of Republic First doesn’t try to use some sort of gimmick to protect themselves,
as they have done before. If it is held, we expect to take the opportunity to put forth candidates that can help save the Company from the slow rolling mismanagement disaster and personal enrichment we’ve seen under the leadership of Harry
Madonna, Andrew Cohen, the two Board members who will face shareholders, Benjamin Duster and Peter Bartholow and their handpicked CEO, Tom Geisel.
Their
record of failure is clear: today’s share price has fallen to just 95 cents — down almost 35% in the month since Cohen was named chairman of the Board — the Company hired Tom Geisel as CEO despite his being forced out of another bank,
and is closing branches, reducing services and cutting staff. How Duster and Bartolow can possibly think they deserve to continue to serve is beyond us – but we fully expect to nominate individuals to replace them and secure Republic
First’s future, rebuild value for shareholders and improve services for its customers.”
CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING THE PARTICIPANTS
The Group (as defined below) intends to file a proxy statement that will be accompanied by a proxy card with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”) with respect to the election of directors of Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (the “Issuer”) to occur at the 2022 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2022 Annual Meeting”) when it is scheduled.
GEORGE E. NORCROSS, III, GREGORY B. BRACA, PHILIP A. NORCROSS, AVERY CONNER CAPITAL TRUST AND SUSAN D. HUDSON, GEOFFREY B. HUDSON, ROSE M. GUIDA AND PHILIP A.
NORCROSS, EACH IN THEIR CAPACITIES AS CO-TRUSTEES THEREOF (COLLECTIVELY, THE “GROUP”), MAY BE DEEMED TO BE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES WITH RESPECT TO THE 2022 ANNUAL MEETING. A
DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS’ INTERESTS, BY SECURITY HOLDINGS OR OTHERWISE, IS CONTAINED IN THE SCHEDULE 13D, JOINTLY FILED BY THE GROUP ON JANUARY 31, 2022, AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME. SHAREHOLDERS OF THE ISSUER ARE STRONGLY ADVISED
TO READ THE GROUP’S PROXY STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. SUCH PROXY MATERIALS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC’S WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV
[sec.gov].