** Shares of regional lender Washington Trust fall 2.2% to $35.50 premarket after overnight follow-on offering priced
** WASH sold ~1.9 mln shares in an upsized stock offering at $34/shr for gross proceeds of about $65 mln
** Offering boosted from initial size of $55 mln, priced at a 6.3% discount to stock's last close
** BofA Securities was the sole book-running manager for the offering
** Regional lenders have increasingly tapped equity capital markets in recent weeks, cashing in on a rally in bank stocks fueled by President-elect Donald Trump's victory
** Coastal Financial , Dime Community Bancshares
, Valley National Bancorp and Associated Banc-Corp among those who have raised equity recently
** WASH will use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes including balance sheet optimization strategies
** Such strategies may involve the bank selling lower-yielding loans and debt securities, repaying wholesale funding balances, and purchasing new bonds - WASH
** As of last close, WASH up 12.1% YTD
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))
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