First Bancorp, the parent company of First Bank, has completed the sale of $65 million of preferred stock to the U.S. Treasury Department under the Treasury's Capital Purchase Program (CPP).

The program is designed to attract broad participation by healthy banking institutions to help stabilize the financial system and increase lending for the benefit of the U.S. economy.

The preferred stock issued to the Treasury will pay a dividend of 5 percent for the first five years and 9 percent after that.

As part of the program, the Treasury also received warrants that give it the option for the next 10 years to purchase a total of 616,308 shares of First Bancorp common stock at an exercise price of $15.82.

"We are pleased to have raised this capital," said Jerry L. Ocheltree, president and CEO. "Although First Bancorp and First Bank were both classified as 'well-capitalized' by all regulatory measures prior to the sale of the preferred stock, the capital markets that we have utilized in the past to help finance our growth have not been available during this economic downturn.

"This new capital, which is being offered at attractive financial terms, will better allow us to continue to meet the credit needs of the communities we serve."

First Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Troy, with total assets of $2.7 billion.

Its principal activity is the ownership and operation of First Bank, a state-chartered community bank that operates 74 branches, with 63 operating in a 21-county market area in the central Piedmont and coastal regions of North Carolina.

It also operates six branches in South Carolina (Cheraw, Dillon, Florence, and Latta), and five branches in Virginia (Abingdon, Dublin, Fort Chiswell, Radford and Wytheville), where First Bank does business as First Bank of Virginia. First Bank also has a loan production office in Blacksburg, Va.