(Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall)COLUMBUS, Ind., Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Irwin Financial Corporation , a bank holding company, today announced the filing of a registration statement in connection with a planned $50 million rights offering to shareholders. This rights offering will help the Corporation maintain and enhance capital strength while completing its previously announced strategic restructuring efforts to re-focus on small business and community banking. The Corporation has entered into various "standby" purchase agreements with five investors to purchase up to $31 million of common shares after shareholders have been given the first opportunity to invest in the offering.

"We continue to make progress executing our strategic restructuring plan to reduce our exposure to the national mortgage lending industry and return to our traditional focus on delivering banking services to small businesses and local communities where we have branches," said Will Miller, Chairman and CEO of Irwin Financial. "Our restructuring process, while costly in the current difficult economic environment, is critical to our plan to restore profitability. The capital raised by this rights offering will help us continue to maintain required capital levels while we complete this initiative.

"Each member of our Board of Directors has individually committed to invest through the rights offering. In addition, five investors have agreed to invest up to $31 million through the exercise of rights received and by buying shares of stock representing rights potentially unexercised by our shareholders," Mr. Miller continued. "Our headquarters community neighbor, Cummins Inc., has provided up to $25 million of the commitment. The remainder of the standby commitment is being provided by me, members of my family, and Henry B. Schacht, a former Chairman and CEO of Cummins and Lucent Technologies Inc. The standby investors believe this opportunity to purchase shares of the Corporation is an attractive investment." The standby agreements are subject to certain conditions. The company plans to continue discussions with other investors to provide additional standby commitments at a later date.

Irwin Financial and its subsidiary banks have also entered into written agreements with the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. In the current environment of uncertainty in the banking and financial industry, the agreements outline a number of steps that have been agreed upon among the parties, including submission of plans regarding revised business strategies, liquidity and funds management, and capital levels; improvements in credit administration, accounting, and Board oversight; an assessment of and specific additions to management; and certain restrictions applicable only to its savings bank, which holds about 13% of the Corporation's assets.

"We do not expect these agreements to have a significant impact our normal banking operations," Mr. Miller said. "It is business as usual for our clients. The actions we will take under these agreements are consistent with the actions we announced earlier this year to initiate our strategic restructuring and improve our risk management processes.