On July 14, 2023, George E. Norcross, III, Gregory B. Braca, Philip A. Norcross,
Alessandra T. Norcross, and Alexander S. Norcross issued the following press release:
Norcross Braca Group Announces Dan Hilferty, Mary Pat Christie and
Greg Braca to be Nominated to Serve on Republic First Board
Trio of Exceptional Leaders Will Bring the Banking and Finance Expertise Needed to Turn
Around the Mismanaged Company Whose Stock Price Has Fallen Almost 78% to Record Lows in Last 12 Months
CAMDEN, NJ: Gregory B. Braca and Philip A.
Norcross today provided notice to Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” or “Republic First”) that they were nominating Braca, Daniel J. Hilferty and Mary Pat Christie to stand for election to the Company’s board of
directors at its 2022 annual meeting of shareholders. The Company has not held an annual meeting in more than two years. The meeting comes amid continued dysfunction and poor performance at Republic First, which has seen its share price decline to
an all-time low and has announced cuts to staff, services and locations. Over the last 18 months, there has been a steady drip of revelations regarding related party transactions, accounting irregularities and
mismanagement at the Company.
“Today’s announcement that Dan Hilferty and Mary Pat Christie — two incredibly distinguished leaders with
deep management and financial experience and connections to their communities — are willing to join our fight to rescue Republic First should be a clear signal to the Company’s employees, customers, and shareholders that help is, at long
last, on its way,” said Braca today. “We have confidence that with new and better leadership, not only can Republic First be saved, but that its best days are ahead.”
Braca detailed just a small number of what the Group sees as the Company’s many missteps and embarrassments that have come to light in the last 18
months, including:
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the continued inability to file required quarterly and annual financial statements in a timely manner;
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repeated threats of a NASDAQ delisting; |
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the abrupt and unexplained resignation of the Company’s CFO; |
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a refusal to release secret investigative report examining related party transactions required by the
Company’s auditors; |
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catastrophic decisions to invest in long-term securities at a time when interest rates were widely expected to
rise; and |
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the embarrassing cancellation, without a coherent explanation, of a badly needed capital raise in partnership
with Republic First chair Andrew Cohen. |
The Norcross Braca group is nominating three leaders to serve on the Republic First board
following the recent entry of a Stipulation and Order in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas requiring the Company to re-open the window for nominations and to allow the Norcross Braca group to submit
nominees. In November, the Norcross Braca group filed a complaint in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to prevent the Company from illegally reducing its board size and attempting to block the nomination of Braca to the board. Earlier this
month, the Company announced rather than reducing the size of its board, the Company would return to eight members, allowing the Norcross Braca group to nominate three people for election to the board. With the Stipulation and Order in place and the
Company returning to an eight member board, the Norcross Braca Group effectively prevailed on all claims asserted in its court action.
“In the
coming weeks, we will continue to aggressively make the case to every Republic First shareholder why change is needed, why Dan, Mary Pat, and I are the best candidates to effectuate that change, and the specific reforms we will pursue if
elected,” said Braca. “With an annual meeting finally set and the nominations of a highly qualified slate of board nominees, our campaign to fix Republic First is just beginning.”