COBH Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp (MM)

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Republic First Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:FRBK), which last November signed a definitive agreement to merge with Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:COBH) and form Metro Bancorp, today announced that Jay Neilon has joined Republic First Bank as Senior Vice President and Senior Credit Officer. Neilon, comes to the soon to be named Metro Bank after 16 years with Commerce Bank, NJ where he served as the Senior Credit Officer for Pennsylvania. While at Commerce, Neilon oversaw the bank's fastest growing commercial market. A local banker for over 30 years, Neilon also worked for the former Fidelity Bank. "We are very pleased that Jay Neilon is now part of our senior management team," said Republic First Chairman and CEO Harry Madonna. "Jay's extensive experience and proven ability to support fast paced growth, is a key addition for us as we build 'America's Next Great Bank.'" "I'm thrilled to be part of Metro Bank's future," said Jay Neilon. "It's exciting to be back with a growth company that is committed to providing customers with personal service, the products they need and local decision making." Republic First Bank is a full-service, state-chartered commercial bank with assets of $1 billion. The bank provides diversified financial products through its 12 offices located in Abington, Ardmore, Bala Cynwyd, Plymouth Meeting, Media and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Voorhees, New Jersey. In Spring 2009, additional New Jersey offices will be opening in Haddonfield, Cherry Hill and Washington Township. Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp is a financial services retailer with 33 stores in the counties of Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York. Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Commerce has more than $2 billion in assets. Services include seven-day banking, free checking, free instant-issue Visa check card, free interactive coin-counting machines, free online banking and 24/7 bank-by-phone. The bank also offers commercial banking services including term loans, commercial mortgages, lines of credit and cash management services. For more information, visit the bank's web site at commercepc.com. FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking statements about Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp and Republic First Bancorp and the proposed transaction between the companies. There are several factors - many beyond the parties' control - that could cause actual results to differ significantly from expectations described in the forward-looking statements. Among these are the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals and the approval of Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp and Republic First Bancorp shareholders. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and the companies do not undertake any obligation to update them to reflect changes that occur after that date. For a discussion of factors that may cause actual results to differ from expectations, refer to each company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008 and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, including information incorporated into each company's 10-K from their respective 2007 annual reports, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUBJECT TRANSACTION Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp and Republic First Bancorp will be filing with the SEC a joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents concerning the merger. Investors will also be able to obtain these documents free of charge at the SEC's website. THE COMPANIES URGE INVESTORS TO READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC IN CONNECTION WITH THE MERGER OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE IN THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees of both Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp and Republic First Bancorp may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in favor of the merger from the shareholders of their respective companies. Information about the directors and executive officers of Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp is included in the proxy statement for its 2008 annual meeting of shareholders which was filed with the SEC on April 23, 2008. Information about the directors and executive officers of Republic First Bancorp is included in the proxy statement for its 2008 annual meeting of shareholders which was filed with the SEC on March 11, 2008, and the current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 23, 2008. Additional information regarding the participants and their interests will be included in the joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available. DATASOURCE: Republic First Bancorp, Inc. CONTACT: Kevin J. Barry of Republic First Bancorp Inc., +1-215-430-5416, Web Site: http://www.commercepc.com/

Copyright