CADENCE FINANCIAL CORPORATION [ ] Shares of Common Stock UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT ______________, 2009

EX-1.1 2 dex11.htm FORM OF UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT Form of Underwriting Agreement

EXHIBIT 1.1

CADENCE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

[ ] Shares of Common Stock

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

______________, 2009

FBR Capital Markets & Co.

as Representative of the several Underwriters

c/o FBR Capital Markets & Co.

1001 19th Street North

Arlington, Virginia 22209

Dear Sirs:

Cadence Financial Corporation, a Mississippi corporation (the “Company”), confirms its agreement with each of the Underwriters listed on Schedule I hereto (collectively, the “Underwriters”), for whom FBR Capital Markets & Co. is acting as representative (in such capacity, the “Representative”), with respect to (i) the sale by the Company of [ ] shares (the “Initial Shares”) of common stock, par value $1.00 per share (the “Common Stock”), of the Company, and the purchase by the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, of the respective number of shares of Common Stock set forth opposite the names of the Underwriters in Schedule I hereto, and (ii) the grant of the option described in Section 1(b) hereof to purchase all or any part of [ ] additional shares of Common Stock to cover over-allotments (the “Option Shares”), if any, from the Company to the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, in the respective numbers of shares of Common Stock set forth opposite the names of each of the Underwriters listed in Schedule I hereto. The Initial Shares to be purchased by the Underwriters and all or any part of the Option Shares subject to the option described in Section 1(b) hereof are hereinafter called, collectively, the “Shares.”

The Company understands that the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of the Shares as soon as the Underwriters deem advisable after this Underwriting Agreement (the “Agreement”) has been executed and delivered.

The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-160324) including a related preliminary prospectus, for the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Securities Act Regulations”). The Company has prepared and filed such amendments to the registration statement and such amendments or supplements to the related preliminary prospectus as may have been required to the date hereof, and will file such additional amendments or supplements as may hereafter be required. The registration statement has been declared effective under the Securities Act by the Commission. The registration

statement, as amended at the time it was declared effective by the Commission (and, if the Company files a post-effective amendment to such registration statement which becomes effective prior to the Closing Time (as defined below), such registration statement as so amended) and including all information deemed to be a part of the registration statement pursuant to incorporation by reference, Rule 430A of the Securities Act Regulations or otherwise, is hereinafter called the “Registration Statement.” Any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act Regulations is hereinafter called the “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement,” and after such filing the term “Registration Statement” shall include the 462(b) Registration Statement. Each prospectus included in the Registration Statement before it was declared effective by the Commission under the Securities Act, and any preliminary form of prospectus filed with the Commission by the Company with the consent of the Underwriters pursuant to Rule 424(a) of the Securities Act Regulations, is hereinafter called the “Preliminary Prospectus.” The term “Prospectus” means the final prospectus, as first filed with the Commission pursuant to paragraph (1) or (4) of Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act Regulations, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto.

The Commission has not issued any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus.

The term “Disclosure Package” means (i) the Preliminary Prospectus, as most recently amended or supplemented immediately prior to the Initial Sale Time (as defined herein), (ii) the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses (as defined below), if any, identified in Schedule II hereto, and (iii) any other Free Writing Prospectus (as defined below) that the parties hereto shall hereafter expressly agree to treat as part of the Disclosure Package.

The term “Issuer Free Writing Prospectus” means any issuer free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 433 of the Securities Act Regulations. The term “Free Writing Prospectus” means any free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Regulations.

The Company and the Underwriters agree as follows:

1. Sale and Purchase:

(a) Initial Shares. Upon the basis of the warranties and representations and other terms and conditions herein set forth, at the purchase price per share of Common Stock of $[ ], the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite its name, and each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite such Underwriter’s name, plus any additional number of Initial Shares which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 8 hereof, subject in each case, to such adjustments among the Underwriters as the Representative in its sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional shares.

(b) Option Shares. In addition, upon the basis of the warranties and representations and other terms and conditions herein set forth, at the purchase price per share of Common Stock set forth in paragraph (a) above, the Company hereby grants an option to the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, all or any part of the Option Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite such party’s name, plus any additional number of Option Shares which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 8 hereof. The option hereby granted will expire 30 days after the date hereof and may be exercised in whole or in part from time to time within such 30-day period only for the purpose of covering over-allotments which may be made in connection with the offering and distribution of the Initial Shares upon notice by the Representative to the Company setting forth the number of Option Shares as to which the several Underwriters are then exercising the option and the time and date of payment and delivery for such Option Shares. Any such time and date of delivery (an “Option Closing Time”) shall be determined by the Representative, but shall not be later than three full business days (or earlier, without the consent of the Company, than two full business days) after the exercise of such option, nor in any event prior to the Closing Time, as hereinafter defined. If the option is exercised as to all or any portion of the Option Shares, the Company will sell that number of Option Shares then being purchased and each of the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, will purchase that number of shares equal to the proportion that the total number of Option Shares then being purchased which the number of Initial Shares set forth in Schedule I opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Initial Shares, subject in each case to such adjustments among the Underwriters as the Representative in its sole discretion shall make to eliminate any sales or purchases of fractional shares.

2. Payment and Delivery

(a) Initial Shares. The Initial Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representative may request upon at least 48 hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representative, including, at the option of the Representative, through the facilities of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified to the Representative by the Company upon at least 48 hours’ prior notice. The Company will cause the certificates, if any, representing the Initial Shares to be made available for checking and packaging not later than 1:00 p.m. New York City time on the business day prior to the Closing Time (as defined below) with respect thereto at the office of the Representative, 1001 19^th Street North, Arlington, Virginia 22209, or at the office of DTC or its designated custodian, as the case may be (the “Designated Office”). The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the third (fourth, if the determination of the purchase price of the Initial Shares occurs after 4:30 p.m., New York City time) business day after the date hereof (unless another time and date shall be agreed to by the Representative and the Company). The time and date at which such delivery and payment are actually made is hereinafter called the “Closing Time.”

(b) Option Shares. Any Option Shares to be purchased by each Underwriter hereunder, in definitive form, and in such authorized denominations and registered in such names as the Representative may request upon at least 48 hours’ prior notice to the Company shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representative, including, at the option of the Representative, through the facilities of DTC for the account of such Underwriter, against payment by or on behalf of such Underwriter of the purchase price therefor by wire transfer of Federal (same-day) funds to the account specified to the Representative by the Company upon at least 48 hours’ prior notice. The Company will cause the certificates, if any, representing the Option Shares to be made available for checking and packaging at least 24 hours prior to the Option Closing Time with respect thereto at the Designated Office. The time and date of such delivery and payment shall be 9:30 a.m., New York City time, on the date specified by the Representative in the notice given by the Representative to the Company of the Underwriters’ election to purchase such Option Shares or on such other time and date as the Company and the Representative may agree upon in writing.

(c) Directed Shares. It is understood that approximately 1,000,000 shares of the Initial Shares (the “Directed Shares”) initially will be reserved by the Underwriters for offer and sale to officers and directors of the Company (“Directed Share Participants”) upon the terms and conditions set forth in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package (the “Directed Share Program”) and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Under no circumstances will the Representative or any Underwriter be liable to the Company or to any Directed Share Participant for any action taken or omitted to be taken in good faith in connection with such Directed Share Program. To the extent that any Directed Shares are not affirmatively reconfirmed for purchase by any Directed Share Participant on or immediately after the date of this Agreement, such Directed Shares may be offered to the public as part of the public offering contemplated herein. The Company has supplied the Representative with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the directors and officers which the Company has designated to be participants in the Directed Share Program. It is understood that any number of those so designated to participate may decline to do so.

3. Representations and Warranties of the Company:

The Company represents and warrants to the Underwriters as of the date hereof, the Initial Sale Time (as defined below), as of the Closing Time and as of any Option Closing Time (if applicable), and agrees with each Underwriter, that:

(a) the Company has the duly authorized capitalization as set forth in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package; the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company and each subsidiary of the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and have not been issued in violation of or subject to any preemptive right or other similar right of shareholders arising by operation of law, under the articles of incorporation or bylaws, each as amended, or other organizational documents (collectively, the “Charter Documents”) of the Company under

any agreement to which the Company is a party or otherwise (each subsidiary of the Company is sometimes referred to in this Agreement individually as a “Subsidiary” and collectively with all of the other Subsidiaries as the “Subsidiaries”); all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Subsidiaries are directly or indirectly owned of record and beneficially by the Company; except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no outstanding (i) securities or obligations of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries convertible into or exchangeable for any capital stock or other equity interests of the Company or any such Subsidiary, (ii) warrants, rights or options to subscribe for or purchase from the Company or any such Subsidiary any such capital stock or other equity interests or any such convertible or exchangeable securities or obligations, or (iii) obligations of the Company or any such Subsidiary to issue or sell any shares of capital stock or other equity interests, any such convertible or exchangeable securities or obligation, or any such warrants, rights or options;

(b) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries (all of which are named in Exhibit 21 to the Registration Statement) has been duly incorporated or organized and is validly existing as a corporation, national banking association or statutory trust in good standing under the laws of its respective jurisdiction of incorporation or organization with full power and authority to own or lease its respective properties and to conduct its respective business as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and, in the case of the Company, to execute and deliver this Agreement and to consummate the transactions contemplated herein;

(c) the Company is duly registered as a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended (the “BHC Act”), and the Company’s banking subsidiary, Cadence Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”) is a member in good standing of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas;

(d) the Company and the Bank are in compliance in all material respects with all laws administered by and regulations of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), and any other federal or state bank regulatory authority with jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries (which shall include, for the avoidance of doubt, the U.S. Department of the Treasury in respect of the Troubled Asset Relief Program’s Capital Purchase Program), other than where such failures to comply would not have a Material Adverse Effect (as defined below) on the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole;

(e) the Company and all of the Subsidiaries are duly qualified or licensed and are in good standing in each jurisdiction in which they conduct their respective businesses or in which they own or lease real property or otherwise maintain an office and in which the failure, individually or in the aggregate, to be so qualified or licensed would have a material adverse effect on the assets, business, results of operations, earnings, prospects, or condition (financial or otherwise), of the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole, (any such effect or change, where the context so requires, is hereinafter called a “Material Adverse Effect” or “Material Adverse Change”); except as disclosed in both the

Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, no Subsidiary is prohibited or restricted, directly or indirectly, from paying dividends to the Company, or from making any other distribution with respect to such Subsidiary’s capital stock or from repaying to the Company or any other Subsidiary any amounts which may from time to time become due under any loans or advances to such Subsidiary from the Company or such other Subsidiary, or from transferring any such Subsidiary’s property or assets to the Company or to any other Subsidiary; other than as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, the Company does not own, directly or indirectly, any capital stock or other equity securities of any other corporation or any ownership interest in any partnership, joint venture or other association;

(f) the Company and the Subsidiaries are in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, orders, decrees and judgments, including those relating to transactions with affiliates other than where failure to comply would not have a Material Adverse Effect;

(g) neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in breach of or in default under (nor has any event occurred which with or without notice or lapse of time would constitute a breach of, or default under), its respective organizational documents, or in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any license, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any of them or their respective properties is bound, except for such breaches or defaults that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect;

(h) the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by the Company, and consummation of the transactions contemplated herein will not (A) conflict with, or result in any breach of, or constitute a default under (nor constitute any event which with notice, lapse of time, or both would constitute a breach of, or default under) (i) the Charter Documents, or (ii) any provision of any license, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any of them or their respective properties may be bound or affected, or under any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule or any decree, judgment or order applicable to the Company or any Subsidiary, except in the case of this clause (ii) for such breaches or defaults which would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; or (B) result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge, claim or encumbrance upon any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary;

(i) this Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company;

(j) no approval, authorization, consent or order of or filing with any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority or agency is required in connection with the Company’s execution, delivery and performance

of this Agreement, its consummation of the transactions contemplated herein, and its sale and delivery of the Shares, other than (A) such as have been obtained, or will have been obtained at the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time, as the case may be, under the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), (B) such approvals as have been obtained in connection with the approval of the listing of the Shares on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, subject to official notice of issuance, and (C) any necessary qualification under the securities or blue sky laws of the various jurisdictions in which the Shares are being offered by the Underwriters;

(k) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries has all necessary licenses, authorizations, consents and approvals and has made all necessary filings required under any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule, and has obtained all necessary licenses, authorizations, consents and approvals from other persons, required in order to conduct their respective businesses as described in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, except to the extent that any failure to have any such licenses, authorizations, consents or approvals, to make any such filings or to obtain any such authorizations, consents or approvals would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is required by any applicable law to obtain from any governmental agency or authority any accreditation or certificate in order to provide the products and services that it currently provides or that it proposes to provide as set forth in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package; neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is in violation of, in default under, or has received any notice regarding a possible violation, default or revocation of any such license, authorization, consent or approval or any federal, state, local or foreign law, regulation or rule or any decree, order or judgment applicable to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries the effect of which would result in a Material Adverse Change;

(l) each of the Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has become effective under the Securities Act, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has been issued under the Securities Act and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated or threatened by the Commission and the Company has complied to the Commission’s satisfaction with any request on the part of the Commission for additional information;

(m) the Preliminary Prospectus when filed and the Registration Statement as of each effective date and as of the date hereof complied or will comply, and the Prospectus and any further amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus will, when they become effective or are filed with the Commission, as the case may be, comply, in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations;

(n) the Registration Statement, as of its effective date and as of the date hereof, did not, does not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and the Preliminary Prospectus does not, and the Prospectus or

any amendment or supplement thereto will not, as of the applicable filing date, the date hereof and at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time (if any), contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no warranty or representation with respect to any statement contained in or omitted from the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity with the information concerning the Underwriters and furnished in writing by or on behalf of the Underwriters through the Representative to the Company expressly for use therein (that information being limited to that described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 9(b) hereof);

(o) as of [6:00] pm (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement (the “Initial Sale Time”), the Disclosure Package did not, and at the time of each sale of Shares and at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, the Disclosure Package will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; as of its issue date or date of first use and at all subsequent times through the Initial Sale Time, each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus did not, and at the time of each sale of Shares and at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, each such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus will not, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no warranty or representation with respect to any statement contained in or omitted from the Disclosure Package in reliance upon and in conformity with the information concerning the Underwriters and furnished in writing by or on behalf of the Underwriters through the Representative to the Company expressly for use therein (that information being limited to that described in the last sentence of the first paragraph of Section 9(b) hereof);

(p) the Company is subject to the reporting requirements of either Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act and has filed all reports and other materials required to be filed by Sections 13(a), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act with the Commission (the foregoing materials, including the exhibits thereto and the documents incorporated by reference therein, being collectively referred to as the “SEC Reports” on the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”) system and, except as described in the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, has otherwise complied in all material respects with the provisions of the Exchange Act, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Exchange Act Regulations”);

(q) each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Shares did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, including any document incorporated by reference therein that has not been superseded or modified;

(r) the Company is eligible to use Free Writing Prospectuses in connection with this offering pursuant to Rules 164 and 433 under the Securities Act; any Free Writing Prospectus that the Company is required to file pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act Regulations has been, or will be, filed with the Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations; and each Free Writing Prospectus that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act Regulations or that was prepared by or on behalf of or used by the Company complies or will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations;

(s) except for the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses identified in Schedule II hereto, and any electronic road show relating to the public offering of shares contemplated herein, the Company has not prepared, used or referred to, and will not, without the prior consent of the Representative, prepare, use or refer to, any Free Writing Prospectus;

(t) the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus (to the extent any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus was required to be filed with the Commission) delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with the public offering of the Shares contemplated herein have been and will be identical to the versions of such documents transmitted to the Commission for filing via EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T;

(u) the Company filed the Registration Statement with the Commission before using any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus; and each Issuer Free Writing Prospectus was preceded or accompanied by the most recent Preliminary Prospectus satisfying the requirements of Section 10 under the Securities Act, which Preliminary Prospectus included an estimated price range;

(v) except as described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no actions, suits, proceedings, inquiries or investigations pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against the Company or any Subsidiary or any of their respective officers and directors or to which the properties, assets or rights of any such entity are subject, at law or in equity, before or by any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory commission, board, body, authority, arbitral panel or agency which would result in a judgment, decree, award or order having a Material Adverse Effect;

(w) the financial statements, including the notes thereto, included in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package present fairly the consolidated financial position of the entities to which such financial statements relate (the “Covered Entities”) as of the dates indicated and the consolidated results of operations and changes in financial position and cash flows of the Covered Entities for the periods specified; such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as applied in the United States and on a consistent basis during the periods involved and in accordance with Regulation S-X promulgated by the Commission; the financial statement schedules included in the Registration Statement and

the amounts in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package under the captions “Prospectus Summary—Summary Historical Operating and Financial Data” and “Selected Historical Operating and Financial Data” fairly present the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with the financial statements included in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package; no other financial statements or supporting schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package;

(x) T.E. Lott & Company, whose reports on the consolidated financial statements of the Company and the Subsidiaries are filed with the Commission as part of each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, are, and were during the periods covered by their reports, independent public accountants as required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations and registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board;

(y) subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and except as may be otherwise stated in such documents, there has not been (A) any Material Adverse Change or any development that would result in a Material Adverse Change, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, (B) any transaction that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries taken as a whole, contemplated or entered into by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, (C) any obligation, contingent or otherwise, directly or indirectly incurred by the Company or any Subsidiary that is material to the Company and Subsidiaries taken as a whole or (D) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class of its capital stock;

(z) the Shares conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package;

(aa) except as disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no persons with registration or other similar rights to have any equity or debt securities, including securities which are convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities, registered pursuant to the Registration Statement or otherwise registered by the Company under the Securities Act;

(bb) the Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued and duly delivered against payment therefor as contemplated by this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, and the issuance and sale of the Shares by the Company is not subject to preemptive rights or other similar rights arising by operation of law, under the Charter Documents of the Company or under any agreement to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or otherwise;

(cc) the Shares have been approved for listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, subject to official notice of issuance; the Company has taken or will take all necessary actions to ensure that, as of the Closing Time or within applicable grace periods thereafter, it will be in compliance with all applicable corporate governance requirements

set forth in the FINRA Rulebook that is then in effect and is taking such steps as are necessary to ensure that it will be in compliance with other applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the FINRA Rulebook not currently in effect upon the effectiveness of such requirements;

(dd) the Company has not taken, and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action which is designed to or which has constituted or which might reasonably be expected to cause or result in stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares;

(ee) none of the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective affiliates (i) is required to register as a “broker” or “dealer” in accordance with the provisions of the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder (the “Exchange Act Regulations”), or (ii) directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or has any other association or affiliation with (within the meaning of Article I of the By-laws of FINRA) any member firm of FINRA;

(ff) any certificate signed by any officer of the Company or any Subsidiary, on behalf of the Company or any Subsidiary, delivered to the Representative or to counsel for the Underwriters pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby;

(gg) the form of certificate used to evidence the Common Stock, if any, complies in all material respects with all applicable statutory requirements, with any applicable requirements of the Charter Documents and the requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market;

(hh) the Company and the Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property, owned by them, and good title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of all liens, security interests, pledges, charges, encumbrances, mortgages and defects, except such as are disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package or such as do not materially and adversely affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made or, proposed to be made of such property by the Company and the Subsidiaries; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company or any Subsidiary are held under valid, existing and enforceable leases, with such exceptions as are disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package or are not material and do not interfere with the use made or, proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company or such Subsidiary;

(ii) the descriptions in each of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package of the legal or governmental proceedings, contracts, leases and other legal documents therein described present fairly the information required to be shown, and there are no legal or governmental proceedings, contracts, leases, or other documents of a character required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement that are not described or filed as required;

(jj) the Company and each Subsidiary owns, possesses, licenses or has other rights to use, on reasonable terms, all patents, patent applications, trade and service marks, trade and service mark registrations, trade names, copyrights, licenses, inventions, software and design licenses, trade secrets, technology, other intangible property rights, know-how and other intellectual property (collectively, the “Intellectual Property”) necessary for the conduct of the Company and each Subsidiary’s business as now conducted or as proposed in the Prospectus to be conducted; and neither the Company nor any Subsidiary has received any notice or is otherwise aware of any infringement of or conflict with asserted rights of others with respect to any Intellectual Property or of any facts or circumstances which would render any Intellectual Property invalid or inadequate to protect the interests of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries therein, and which infringement or conflict (if subject of any unfavorable decision, ruling or finding) or inadequacy, individually or in the aggregate, would result in a Material Adverse Effect;

(kk) (x) the Company has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act), which (i) are designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by others within those entities, particularly during the periods in which the periodic reports required under the Exchange Act are being prepared, (ii) have been evaluated for effectiveness as of the end of the last fiscal period covered by the Registration Statement, and (iii) are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established, and (y) the Company is not aware of (a) any significant deficiency or material weakness in the design or operation of its internal controls over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information to management and the Company’s board of directors, or (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Since the most recent evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures described above, there have been no significant changes in internal control over financial reporting or in other factors that could significantly affect internal control over financial reporting;

(ll) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as applied in the United States and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences;

(mm) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries has filed on a timely basis all necessary federal, state, local and foreign income and franchise tax returns required to be filed through the date hereof and have paid all taxes shown as due thereon; and no tax deficiency has been asserted against any such entity, nor does any such entity know of any tax deficiency that is likely to be asserted against any such entity which, if determined adversely to any such entity, would have a Material Adverse Effect; all tax liabilities are adequately provided for on the respective books of such entities;

(nn) each of the Company and the Subsidiaries maintains insurance (issued by insurers of recognized financial responsibility) of the types and in the amounts and with coverage generally deemed adequate for their respective businesses and consistent with insurance coverage maintained by similar companies in similar businesses, including, but not limited to, insurance covering real and personal property owned or leased by the Company and the Subsidiaries against theft, damage, destruction, acts of vandalism and all other risks customarily insured against, all of which insurance is in full force and effect;

(oo) neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation of or has received notice of any violation with respect to any federal or state law relating to discrimination in the hiring, promotion or pay of employees, nor any applicable federal or state wages and hours law, nor any state law precluding the denial of credit to the neighborhood in which the property is situated, the violation of any of which would have a Material Adverse Effect;

(pp) the Company and each of the Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with all presently applicable provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“ERISA”); no “reportable event” (as defined in ERISA) has occurred with respect to any “pension plan” (as defined in ERISA) for which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries would have any liability; the Company and each of the Subsidiaries have not incurred and do not expect to incur liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any “pension plan” or (ii) Section 412 or 4971 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“Code”); and each “pension plan” for which the Company and each of its Subsidiaries would have any liability that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified in all material respects and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification;

(qq) except as disclosed in the both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to or subject to any order, decree, agreement, memorandum or understanding or similar agreement with, or a commitment letter, supervisory letter or similar submission to, any governmental entity charged with the supervision or regulation of depository institutions or engaged in the insurance of deposits (including the Federal Reserve, the FDIC or the OCC) or the supervision or regulation of it or any of its Subsidiaries, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, and neither the Company nor any

of its Subsidiaries has been advised by any such governmental entity that such governmental entity is contemplating issuing or requesting (or is considering the appropriateness of issuing or requesting) any such order, decree, agreement, memorandum or understanding, commitment letter, supervisory letter or similar submission;

(rr) the deposit accounts of the Bank are insured by the FDIC to the legal permitted maximum, and the Bank has paid all premiums and assessments required by the FDIC and the regulations promulgated by the FDIC, and no proceeding for the termination or revocation of such insurance is pending or threatened;

(ss) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries nor, any officer, director, employee or agent purporting to act on behalf of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries has at any time, directly or indirectly (i) made any contributions to any candidate for political office, or failed to disclose fully any such contributions, in violation of law, (ii) made any payment to any state, federal or foreign governmental officer or official, or other person charged with similar public or quasi-public duties, other than payments required or allowed by applicable law, (iii) made any payment outside the ordinary course of business to any investment officer or loan broker or person charged with similar duties of any entity to which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries sells or from which the Company or any of the Subsidiaries buys loans or servicing arrangements for the purpose of influencing such agent, officer, broker or person to buy loans or servicing arrangements from or sell loans to the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, or (iv) engaged in any transactions, maintained any bank account or used any corporate funds except for transactions, bank accounts and funds that have been and are reflected in the normally maintained books and records of the Company and the Subsidiaries;

(tt) except as otherwise disclosed in both the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there are no outstanding loans, extensions of credit or advances or guarantees of indebtedness by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries to or for the benefit of any of the officers or directors of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries or any of the members of the families of any of them;

(uu) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any employee or agent of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, has made any payment of funds of the Company or of any Subsidiary or received or retained any funds in violation of any law, rule or regulation or of a character required to be disclosed in the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, including without limitation the “know your customer” and anti-money laundering laws of any jurisdiction;

(vv) all securities issued by the Company, any of the Subsidiaries or any trusts established by the Company or any Subsidiary, have been or will be issued and sold in compliance with (i) all applicable federal and state securities laws, (ii) the laws of the applicable jurisdiction of incorporation of the issuing entity and, (iii) to the extent applicable to the issuing entity, the requirements of The Nasdaq Global Select Market;

(ww) the Company and its Subsidiaries are, and at all times prior were, (i) in compliance with any and all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, regulations, ordinances, rules, orders, judgments, decrees, permits or other legal requirements relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment, natural resources, petroleum or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (“Environmental Laws”), which compliance includes obtaining, maintaining and complying with all licenses, permits and authorizations and approvals required by Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (ii) have not received notice of any violation with respect to any Environmental Laws, and (iii) have not received notice of nor do they otherwise have knowledge of any actual or potential liability for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of petroleum, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, except in the case of clause (i), (ii) or (iii) where such non-compliance with or liability under Environmental Laws would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; and neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has been named as a “potentially responsible party” under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended, or any other similar Environmental Law, except with respect to any matters that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. None of the Company and its Subsidiaries (A) is a party to any proceeding under Environmental Laws in which a governmental authority is also a party, other than such proceedings regarding which it is believed no monetary penalties of $100,000 or more will be imposed, or (B) anticipates material capital expenditures relating to Environmental Laws;

(xx) in connection with this offering, the Company has not offered and will not offer its Common Stock or any other securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Stock in a manner in violation of the Securities Act; except as described in the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package and as has been duly waived, the Company has not issued any of its Common Stock or any other securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for Common Stock that is (x) required to be registered under the Securities Act or (y) required to be integrated for purposes of the Securities Act or Securities Act Regulations with the sale of the Shares and the offering of the Shares by the Underwriters, as contemplated by this Agreement; the Company has not, prior to the date hereof, made any other offer or sale of securities that is required to be integrated with this offering; and the Company has not distributed and will not distribute any offering material in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares except for the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or the Registration Statement;

(yy) the Company has complied and will comply with all the provisions of Florida Statutes, Section 517.075 (Chapter 92-198, Laws of Florida); and neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries or affiliates does business with the government of Cuba or with any person or affiliate located in Cuba;

(zz) the Company has not incurred any liability for any finder’s fees or similar payments in connection with the transactions herein contemplated;

(aaa) the minute books of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries have been made available to the Underwriters and counsel for the Underwriters, and such books (i) contain a summary of all meetings and actions of the board of directors (including each committee thereof) and shareholders of the Company and such Subsidiary since the later of the time of its respective formation and January 1, 2005 through the date of the latest meeting and action and (ii) accurately in all material respects reflect all resolutions adopted at such meetings or actions referred to in such minutes;

(bbb) no forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith;

(ccc) no relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of the Subsidiaries on the one hand, and the directors, officers, shareholders, customers or suppliers of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries on the other hand, that is required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations to be described in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, which is not so described;

(ddd) neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Shares will be, an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company”, as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”);

(eee) there are no existing or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened labor disputes with the employees of the Company or any of the Subsidiaries in writing, that would have, individually or in the aggregate, a Material Adverse Effect;

(fff) the Company, the Subsidiaries and any of their respective officers and directors, in their capacities as such, are, and at the Closing Time and any Option Closing Time will be, in compliance in all material respects with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;

(ggg) the Company (i) complies with the Privacy Statements (as defined below) as applicable to any given set of personal information collected by the Company from Individuals (as defined below), (ii) complies in all material respects with all applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations regarding the collection, retention, use, transfer or disclosure of personal information and (iii) takes reasonable measures to protect and maintain the confidential nature of the personal information provided to the Company by Individuals in accordance with the terms of the applicable Privacy Statements; to the Company’s knowledge, no claims or controversies have arisen regarding the Privacy Statements or the implementation thereof; as used herein, “Privacy Statements” means, collectively, any and all of the Company’s privacy statements and policies published on Company websites or products or otherwise made available by the

Company regarding the collection, retention, use and distribution of the personal information of individuals, including, without limitation, from visitors or users of any Company websites or products (“Individuals”);

(hhh) the Company’s email direct marketing activities have not violated, in any material respect, the CAN SPAM Act or any other federal or state law or regulation applicable to electronic direct marketing;

(iii) none of the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of such entities is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”), including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the FCPA and the Company and the Subsidiaries and, to the knowledge of the Company, their affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the FCPA;

(jjj) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates or any director, officer, agent or employee of, or other person associated with or acting on behalf of, the Company, has violated the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended, the Uniting and Strengthening of America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (USA PATRIOT ACT) of 2001 or the rules and regulations promulgated under any such law or any successor law;

(kkk) the operations of the Company and its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended, and applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, as amended, any other money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), except for any such non-compliance as would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Change, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of it Subsidiaries, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates, with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened;

(lll) to the Company’s knowledge, each of its affiliates and any director, officer, agent or employee of, or other person associated with or acting on behalf of, the Company and its Subsidiaries has acted at all times in compliance in all material respects with applicable Export and Import Laws (as defined below) and there are no claims,

complaints, charges, investigations or proceedings pending or expected or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened between the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and any governmental authority under any Export and Import Laws. The term “Export and Import Laws” means the Arms Export Control Act, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended, the Export Administration Regulations, and all other laws and regulations of the United States government regulating the provision of services to non-U.S. parties or the export and import of articles or information from and to the United States of America, and all similar laws and regulations of any foreign government regulating the provision of services to parties not of the foreign country or the export and import of articles and information from and to the foreign country to parties not of the foreign country;

(mmm) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its affiliates or any director, officer, agent or employee of, or other person associated with or acting on behalf of, the Company, is currently subject to any United States sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury Department (“OFAC”); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any Subsidiary, partner or joint venturer or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any United States sanctions administered by OFAC; and

(nnn) the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Disclosure Package and any preliminary prospectus comply, and any amendments or supplements thereto will comply, with any applicable laws or regulations of foreign jurisdictions in which the Prospectus or any preliminary prospectus, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, are distributed in connection with the Directed Share Program; no consent, approval, authorization or order of, or qualification with, any governmental body or agency, other than those obtained, is required in connection with the offering of the Directed Shares in any jurisdiction where the Directed Shares are being offered.

4. Certain Covenants of the Company:

The Company hereby agrees with each Underwriter:

(a) to furnish such information as may be required and otherwise to cooperate in qualifying the Shares for offering and sale under the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdictions (both domestic and foreign) as the Representative may designate and to maintain such qualifications in effect as long as requested by the Representative for the distribution of the Shares, provided that the Company shall not be required to qualify as a foreign corporation or to consent to the service of process under the laws of any such jurisdiction (except service of process with respect to the offering and sale of the Shares);

(b) that if, at the time this Agreement is executed and delivered, it is necessary for a post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement to be declared effective before the offering of the Shares may commence, the Company will endeavor to cause

such post-effective amendment to become effective as soon as possible and will advise the Representative promptly and, if requested by the Representative, will confirm such advice in writing, when such post-effective amendment has become effective;

(c) to prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Underwriters and file such Prospectus with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act in a manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) and to furnish promptly in such quantities and at such locations as the Underwriters may reasonably request for the purposes contemplated by the Securities Act Regulations, which Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the version transmitted to the Commission for filing via EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T;

(d) to advise the Representative promptly and (if requested by the Representative) to confirm such advice in writing, when the Registration Statement has become effective and when any post-effective amendment thereto becomes effective under the Securities Act Regulations;

(e) to furnish a copy of each proposed Free Writing Prospectus to the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters and obtain the consent of the Representative prior to referring to, using or filing with the Commission any Free Writing Prospectus pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act, other than the Issuer Free Writing Prospectuses, if any, identified in Schedule II hereto;

(f) to comply with the requirements of Rules 164 and 433 of the Securities Act Regulations applicable to any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission, legending and record keeping, as applicable;

(g) to advise the Representative immediately, confirming such advice in writing, of (i) the receipt of any comments from, or any request by, the Commission for amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or for additional information with respect thereto, (ii) the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes and, if the Commission or any other government agency or authority should issue any such order, to make every reasonable effort to obtain the lifting or removal of such order as soon as possible, (iii) any examination pursuant to Section 8(e) of the Securities Act concerning the Registration Statement, or (iv) if the Company becomes subject to a proceeding under Section 8A of the Securities Act in connection with the public offering of Shares contemplated herein; to advise the Representative promptly of any proposal to amend or supplement the Registration Statement, the Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and to file no such amendment or supplement to which the Representative shall reasonably object in writing;

(h) to furnish to the Underwriters for a period of two years from the date of this Agreement (i) as soon as available, copies of all annual, quarterly and current reports or other communications supplied to holders of shares of Common Stock, (ii) as soon as practicable after the filing thereof, copies of all reports filed by the Company with the Commission, FINRA or any securities exchange (provided that with respect to clause (i) and (ii) the filing of same with EDGAR or any successor system of the Commission shall be deemed to satisfy the obligation to furnish any material required to be furnished hereunder), and (iii) such other information as the Underwriters may reasonably request regarding the Company and the Subsidiaries;

(i) to advise the Underwriters promptly of the happening of any event or development known to the Company within the time during which a Prospectus relating to the Shares (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Securities Act Regulations) is required to be delivered under the Securities Act Regulations which, in the judgment of the Company or in the reasonable opinion of the Representative or counsel for the Underwriters, (i) would require the making of any change in the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package would not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, (ii) as a result of which any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement relating to the Shares, or (iii) if it is necessary at any time to amend or supplement the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package to comply with any law and, during such time, to promptly prepare and furnish to the Underwriters copies of the proposed amendment or supplement before filing any such amendment or supplement with the Commission and thereafter promptly furnish at the Company’s own expense to the Underwriters and to dealers, copies in such quantities and at such locations as the Representative may from time to time reasonably request of an appropriate amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when it (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) under the Securities Act Regulations) is so delivered, be misleading or, in the case of any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, or so that the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package will comply with the law;

(j) to file promptly with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that may, in the judgment of the Company or the Representative, be required by the Securities Act or requested by the Commission;

(k) prior to filing with the Commission any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, to furnish a copy thereof to the Representative and counsel for the Underwriters and obtain the consent of the Representative to the filing;

(l) to furnish promptly to the Representative a signed copy of the Registration Statement, as initially filed with the Commission, and of all amendments or supplements thereto (including all exhibits filed therewith or incorporated by reference therein) and such number of conformed copies of the foregoing as the Representative may reasonably request;

(m) to furnish to the Representative, as soon as practicable before filing with the Commission, during the period referred to in paragraph (i) above, a copy of any document proposed to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14, or 15(d) of the Exchange Act and during the period of two years hereafter to file all such documents in the manner and within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Regulations;

(n) to apply the net proceeds of the sale of the Shares in accordance with its statements under the caption “Use of Proceeds” in the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package;

(o) to make generally available to its security holders and to deliver to the Representative as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than the end of the fiscal quarter first occurring after the first anniversary of the effective date of the Registration Statement an earnings statement complying with the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act (in form, at the option of the Company, complying with the provisions of Rule 158 of the Securities Act Regulations,) covering a period of 12 months beginning after the effective date of the Registration Statement;

(p) to use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the listing of the Shares on The Nasdaq Global Select Market and to file with The Nasdaq Global Select Market all documents and notices required by The Nasdaq Global Select Market of companies that have securities that are traded and quotations for which are reported by The Nasdaq Global Select Market;

(q) to take all necessary actions to ensure that, upon and at all times after The Nasdaq Global Select Market shall have approved the Shares for listing, it will be in compliance with all applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules that are then in effect and, with respect to other applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules not currently in effect, the Company is taking such steps to ensure that it will be in compliance with such requirements upon and all times after the effectiveness thereof;

(r) to take all necessary actions to ensure that, upon and at all times after the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, it will be in compliance with all applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder or implementing the provisions thereof that are then in effect and, with respect to other applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act not currently in effect, the Company is taking such steps to ensure that it will be in compliance with such requirements upon and at all times after the effectiveness thereof;

(s) to maintain, at its expense, a registrar and transfer agent for the Shares;

(t) to refrain, from the date hereof until 180 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Lock-Up Period”), without the prior written consent of the Representative, from, directly or indirectly, (i) offering, pledging, selling, contracting, agreeing to offer or sell, soliciting offers to purchase, granting any call option or purchasing any put option with respect to, pledging, borrowing or otherwise disposing of any Common Stock, any other equity security of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and any security convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, any Common Stock or other such equity security (whether the Company now owns or hereafter acquires such Common Stock or other security) (“Relevant Securities”), and (ii) establishing or increasing any “put equivalent position” or liquidating or decreasing any “call equivalent position” with respect to any Relevant Security (in each case within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Regulations), or otherwise entering into any swap, derivative or other transaction or arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any economic consequences of ownership of any Relevant Security, whether or not such transaction is to be settled by delivery of Relevant Securities, other securities, cash or other consideration; provided, however, that restrictions described in clauses (i) and (ii) do not apply to: (A) the Shares to be sold hereunder, or (B) the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of stock options outstanding on the date hereof and referred to in the Prospectus;

(u) not to, and to use its best efforts to cause its officers, directors and affiliates not to, (i) take, directly or indirectly prior to termination of the underwriting syndicate contemplated by this Agreement, any action designed to stabilize or manipulate the price of any security of the Company, or which may cause or result in, or which might in the future reasonably be expected to cause or result in, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company, to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Shares, (ii) sell, bid for, purchase or pay anyone any compensation for soliciting purchases of the Shares or (iii) pay or agree to pay to any person (other than the Underwriters) any compensation for soliciting any order to purchase any other securities of the Company;

(v) to cause each of the persons listed on Schedule III hereto to furnish to the Representative, prior to the Initial Sale Time, a letter or letters, substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto (the “Lock-Up Letter Agreement”);

(w) that the Company and its Subsidiaries shall obtain or maintain, as appropriate, Directors and Officers liability insurance in an amount deemed advisable by the Company in its reasonable discretion;

(x) if, at any time during the 90-day period after the date of the Prospectus, any rumor, publication or event relating to or affecting the Company shall occur as a result of which, in the reasonable opinion of the Representative, the market price of the Common Stock has been or is likely to be materially affected (regardless of whether such rumor, publication or event necessitates a supplement to or amendment of the Prospectus) and after written notice from the Representative advising the Company to the effect set

forth above, to forthwith prepare, consult with the Representative concerning the substance of, and disseminate a press release or other public statement, reasonably satisfactory to the Representative, responding to or commenting on such rumor, publication or event;

(y) that the Company will comply with all of the provisions of any undertakings in the Registration Statement;

(z) that the Company (i) will comply with all applicable securities and other applicable laws, rules and regulations, including without limitation, the rules and regulations of FINRA, in each jurisdiction in which the Directed Shares are offered in connection with the Directed Shares Program and (ii) will pay all reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program and any stamp duties, similar taxes or duties or other taxes, if any, incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Directed Share Program;

(aa) to use its reasonable best efforts to obtain shareholder approval to amend the Company’s Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended, to increase the number of shares of authorized Common Stock to at least 150 million shares (the “Charter Amendment”).

5. Payment of Expenses:

(a) The Company agrees to pay all costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereunder are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, including expenses, fees and taxes in connection with (i) the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, and the printing and furnishing of copies of each thereof to the Underwriters and to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment), (ii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the certificates, if any, for the Shares to the Underwriters, including any stock or other transfer taxes or duties payable upon the sale of the Shares to the Underwriters, (iii) the printing of this Agreement and any dealer agreements and furnishing of copies of each to the Underwriters and to dealers (including costs of mailing and shipment), (iv) the qualification of the Shares for offering and sale under state laws that the Company and the Representative have mutually agreed are appropriate and the determination of their eligibility for investment under state law as aforesaid (including the legal fees and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters), assuming that the Common Stock is approved for listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market and the printing and furnishing of copies of any blue sky surveys or legal investment surveys to the Underwriters and to dealers, (v) filing for review of the public offering of the Shares by FINRA (including the legal fees and filing fees and other disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters relating thereto), (vi) the fees and expenses of any transfer agent or registrar for the Shares and miscellaneous expenses referred to in the Registration Statement, (vii) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the approval for listing of the Shares on

The Nasdaq Global Select Market, (viii) costs, fees and expenses incurred in connection with making road show presentations with respect to the offering of the Shares, other than costs, fees and expenses of the underwriters relating thereto, and (ix) preparing and distributing bound volumes of transaction documents for the Representative and its legal counsel and the performance of the Company’s other obligations hereunder. Upon the request of the Representative, the Company will provide funds in advance for filing fees.

(b) The Company agrees to reimburse the Representative for its reasonable out-of-pocket expenses in connection with the performance of its activities under this Agreement, whether or not the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated, including, but not limited to, costs such as printing, facsimile, courier service, direct computer expenses, accommodations and travel, fees and expenses of the Underwriters’ outside legal counsel and any other advisors, accountants, appraisers, etc. (other than the fees and expenses of counsel with respect to state securities or blue sky laws and obtaining the filing for review of the public offering of the Shares by FINRA, all of which shall be reimbursed by the Company), subject to a maximum of $150,000; provided however, if this Agreement shall be terminated by the Underwriters, or any of them, because of any failure or refusal on the part of the Company to comply with the terms or to fulfill any of the conditions of this Agreement, or if for any reason the Company shall be unable to perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters or such Underwriters as have so terminated this Agreement with respect to themselves, severally, for all fees and disbursements of Underwriters’ counsel and any other advisors, accountants, appraisers, etc. reasonably incurred by such Underwriters in connection with this Agreement or the transactions contemplated herein.

6. Conditions of the Underwriters’ Obligations:

The obligations of the Underwriters hereunder to purchase Shares at the Closing Time or on each Option Closing Time, as applicable, are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties on the part of the Company hereunder on the date hereof and at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time, as applicable, the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and to the satisfaction of the following further conditions at the Closing Time or on each Option Closing Time, as applicable:

(a) The Company shall furnish to the Underwriters at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time (i) an opinion of Jackson Walker L.L.P., counsel for the Company and the Subsidiaries, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, as applicable, and (ii) an opinion of Watkins Ludlam Winter & Stennis, P.A., counsel for the Company and the Subsidiaries, addressed to the Underwriters and dated the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time, as applicable, each in form and substance satisfactory to Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, counsel for the Underwriters to the effect set forth substantially in Exhibit B.

(b) The Representative shall have received from T.E. Lott & Company letters dated, respectively: (i) the date of the Preliminary Prospectus included in the Disclosure

Package; (ii) the date of any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus included in the Disclosure Package; (iii) the date of any Free Writing Prospectus included in the Disclosure Package; (iv) the date of this Agreement; (v) the Closing Time; and (vi) each Option Closing Time (if any), and addressed to the Representative, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative, containing statements and information of the type specified in AU Section 634 “Letters for Underwriters and Certain other Requesting Parties” issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants with respect to the financial statements, and certain financial information of the Company and the Subsidiaries included in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, and such other matters customarily covered by comfort letters issued in connection with registered public offerings; provided, that the letters delivered at the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time (if any) shall use a “cut-off” date no more than three business days prior to such date of the Pre-Pricing Prospectus, the Closing Time or such Option Closing Time, as the case may be.

In the event that the letters referred to above set forth any changes in indebtedness, decreases in total assets or retained earnings or increases in borrowings to the amounts disclosed in the Registration Statement, Disclosure Package and Prospectus, it shall be a further condition to the obligations of the Underwriters that (A) such letters shall be accompanied by a written explanation of the Company as to the significance thereof, unless the Representative deems such explanation unnecessary, and (B) such changes, decreases or increases do not, in the sole judgment of the Representative, make it impractical or inadvisable to proceed with the purchase and delivery of the Shares as contemplated by the Registration Statement.

(c) The Representative shall have received at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time the favorable opinion of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, dated the Closing Time or such Option Closing Time, addressed to the Representative and in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative.

(d) The Registration Statement shall have become effective not later than 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the date of this Agreement, or such later time and date as the Representative shall approve.

(e) No amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any document in the Disclosure Package shall have been filed to which the Underwriters shall have objected in writing.

(f) Prior to the Closing Time and each Option Closing Time (i) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any order preventing or suspending the use of the Prospectus or any document in the Disclosure Package shall have been issued, and no proceedings for such purpose shall have been initiated or threatened, by the Commission, and no suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes, has occurred; (ii) all requests for additional information on the part of the Commission shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of the

Representative; (iii) the Registration Statement shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; and (iv) the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

(g) All filings with the Commission required by Rule 424 under the Securities Act to have been filed by the Closing Time shall have been made within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by such Rule.

(h) Between the time of execution of this Agreement and the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time there shall not have been any Material Adverse Change, and no transaction which is material and unfavorable to the Company shall have been entered into by the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, in each case, which in the Representative’s sole judgment, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the public offering of the Shares as contemplated by the Registration Statement.

(i) The Shares shall have been approved for listing on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, subject to official notice of issuance.

(j) FINRA shall not have raised any objection with respect to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and arrangements.

(k) The Representative shall have received Lock-Up Letter Agreements contemplated by Section 4 of this Agreement and such Lock-Up Letter Agreements shall be in full force and effect.

(l) The Company will, at the Closing Time and on each Option Closing Time, deliver to the Underwriters a certificate of the Company signed on its behalf by its Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer, to the effect that:

(i) the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct, as if made on and as of the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable, and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable;

(ii) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or threatened under the Securities Act;

(iii) the signers of such certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Disclosure Package, any amendment or supplement thereto, and this Agreement, and that when the

Registration Statement became effective and at all times subsequent thereto up to the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable, the representations and warranties in Sections 3(m), 3(n) and 3(o) are true and correct as if made on and as of the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as applicable; and

(iv) subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, there has not been (a) any Material Adverse Change, (b) any transaction that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, except transactions entered into in the ordinary course of business, (c) any obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, incurred by the Company or the Subsidiaries, except obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business, (d) any change in the capital stock or outstanding indebtedness of the Company or any Subsidiary that is material to the Company and the Subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, (e) any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made on the capital stock of the Company or any Subsidiary, or (f) any loss or damage (whether or not insured) to the property of the Company or any Subsidiary which has been sustained or will have been sustained which has a Material Adverse Effect.

(m) The Company shall have furnished to the Underwriters such other documents and certificates as to the accuracy and completeness of any statement in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the Disclosure Package, the representations, warranties and statements of the Company contained herein, and the performance by the Company of its covenants contained herein, and the fulfillment of any conditions contained herein, as of the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, as the Underwriters may reasonably request.

(n) The Company shall have filed with the SEC preliminary proxy materials in connection with obtaining shareholder approval for the Charter Amendment.

7. Termination:

The obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder shall be subject to termination in the absolute discretion of the Representative, at any time prior to the Closing Time or any Option Closing Time, (i) if any of the conditions specified in Section 6 shall not have been fulfilled when and as required by this Agreement to be fulfilled, or (ii) if there has been since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or the Disclosure Package, any Material Adverse Change, or any development involving a prospective Material Adverse Change, or material change in management of the Company or any Subsidiary, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (iii) if there has occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other national or international calamity or crisis or change in economic,

political or other conditions, the effect of which on the United States or international financial markets is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representative, impracticable to market the Shares or enforce contracts for the sale of the Shares, or (iv) if trading in any securities of the Company has been suspended by the Commission or by The Nasdaq Global Select Market, or if trading generally on The Nasdaq Global Select Market has been suspended (including an automatic halt in trading pursuant to market-decline triggers, other than those in which solely program trading is temporarily halted), or limitations on prices for trading (other than limitations on hours or numbers of days of trading) have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices for securities have been required, by such exchange or FINRA or by order of the Commission or any other governmental authority, or (v) if there has been any downgrade in the rating of any of the Company’s debt securities or preferred stock by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined for purposes of Rule 436(g) under the Securities Act), or (vi) any federal, state, local or foreign statute, regulation, rule or order of any court or other governmental authority has been enacted, published, decreed or otherwise promulgated which, in the reasonable opinion of the Representative, materially adversely affects or will materially adversely affect the business or operations of the Company, or (vii) any action has been taken by any federal, state, local or foreign government or agency in respect of its monetary or fiscal affairs which, in the reasonable opinion of the Representative, could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the securities markets in the United States.

If the Representative elects to terminate this Agreement as provided in this Section 7, the Company and the Underwriters shall be notified promptly by telephone, promptly confirmed by facsimile.

If the sale to the Underwriters of the Shares, as contemplated by this Agreement, is not carried out by the Underwriters for any reason permitted under this Agreement or if such sale is not carried out because the Company shall be unable to comply in all material respects with any of the terms of this Agreement, the Company shall not be under any obligation or liability under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Sections 5 and 9 hereof) and the Underwriters shall be under no obligation or liability to the Company under this Agreement (except to the extent provided in Section 9 hereof) or to one another hereunder.

8. Increase in Underwriters’ Commitments:

If any Underwriter shall default at the Closing Time or on any Option Closing Time in its obligation to take up and pay for the Shares to be purchased by it under this Agreement on such date, the Representative shall have the right, within 36 hours after such default, to make arrangements for one or more of the non-defaulting Underwriters, or any other underwriters, to purchase all, but not less than all, of the Shares which such Underwriter shall have agreed but failed to take up and pay for (the “Defaulted Shares”). Absent the completion of such arrangements within such 36-hour period, (i) if the total number of Defaulted Shares does not exceed 10% of the total number of Shares to be purchased on such date, each non-defaulting Underwriter shall take up and pay for (in

addition to the number of Shares which it is otherwise obligated to purchase on such date pursuant to this Agreement) the portion of the total number of Shares agreed to be purchased by the defaulting Underwriter on such date in the proportion that its underwriting obligations hereunder bears to the underwriting obligations of all non-defaulting Underwriters; and (ii) if the total number of Defaulted Shares exceeds 10% of such total, the Representative may terminate this Agreement by notice to the Company, without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Sections 5 and 9 hereof shall at all times be effective and shall survive such termination.

Without relieving any defaulting Underwriter from its obligations hereunder, the Company agrees with the non-defaulting Underwriters that it will not sell any Shares hereunder on such date unless all of the Shares to be purchased on such date are purchased on such date by the Underwriters (or by substituted Underwriters selected by the Representative with the approval of the Company or selected by the Company with the approval of the Representative).

If a new Underwriter or Underwriters are substituted for a defaulting Underwriter in accordance with the foregoing provision, the Company or the non-defaulting Underwriters shall have the right to postpone the Closing Time or the relevant Option Closing Time for a period not exceeding five business days in order that any necessary changes in the Registration Statement and Prospectus and other documents may be effected.

The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall refer to and include any Underwriter substituted under this Section 8 with the same effect as if such substituted Underwriter had originally been named in this Agreement.

9. Indemnity and Contribution by the Company and the Underwriters:

(a) The Company agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each Underwriter and any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, any such Underwriter or controlling person may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon (A) any breach of any representation, warranty or covenant of the Company contained herein, (B) any failure on the part of the Company to comply with any applicable law, rule or regulation relating to the offering of securities being made pursuant to the Prospectus, (C) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment), any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that the Company has filed or was required to file with the Commission, or the Prospectus (the term Prospectus for the purpose of this Section 9 being deemed to include any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented by the Company), (D) any application or other document, or any amendment or supplement thereto, executed by the Company or based upon written

information furnished by or on behalf of the Company filed in any jurisdiction (domestic or foreign) in order to qualify the Shares under the securities or blue sky laws thereof or filed with the Commission or any securities association or securities exchange (each an “Application”), (E) any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in any such Registration Statement, or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading, (F) any omission or alleged omission from any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Application of a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or (G) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any audio or visual materials used in connection with the marketing of the Shares, including, without limitation, slides, videos, films and tape recordings; except in the case of (C), (E) and (F) above only insofar as any such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission of a material fact contained in and in conformity with information furnished in writing by the Underwriters through the Representative to the Company expressly for use in such Registration Statement, Prospectus or Application. The indemnity agreement set forth in this Section 9(a) shall be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have.

Without limitation of and in addition to its obligations under the other paragraphs of this Section 9, the Company agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each Underwriter and any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which, jointly or severally, any such Underwriter or controlling person may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (1) arises out of or is based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any material prepared by or on behalf or with the consent of the Company for distribution to Directed Share Participants in connection with the Directed Share Program or caused by any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (2) is or was caused by the failure of any Directed Share Participant to pay for and accept delivery of the Directed Shares that the Directed Share Participant has agreed to purchase; or (3) otherwise arises out of or is based upon the Directed Share Program, provided, however, that the Company shall not be responsible under this clause (3) for any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim that is finally judicially determined to have resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Representative in conducting the Directed Share Program.

If any action is brought against an Underwriter or controlling person in respect of which indemnity may be sought against the Company pursuant to subsection (a) above, such Underwriter shall promptly notify the Company in writing of the institution of such action, and the Company shall assume the defense of such action, including the employment of counsel and payment of expenses; provided, however, that any failure or delay to so notify the Company will not relieve the Company of any obligation hereunder,

except to the extent that its ability to defend is actually impaired by such failure or delay. Such Underwriter or controlling person shall have the right to employ its or their own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Underwriter or such controlling person unless the employment of such counsel shall have been authorized in writing by the Company in connection with the defense of such action, or the Company shall not have employed counsel to have charge of the defense of such action within a reasonable time or such indemnified party or parties shall have reasonably concluded (based on the advice of counsel) that there may be defenses available to it or them which are different from or additional to those available to the Company (in which case the Company shall not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party or parties), in any of which events such fees and expenses shall be borne by the Company and paid as incurred (it being understood, however, the Company shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys for the Underwriters or controlling persons in any one action or series of related actions in the same jurisdiction (other than local counsel in any such jurisdiction) representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such action). Anything in this paragraph to the contrary notwithstanding, the Company shall not be liable for any settlement of any such claim or action effected without its consent.

(b) Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company, the Company’s directors, the Company’s officers that signed the Registration Statement, and any person who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, from and against any loss, expense, liability, damage or claim (including the reasonable cost of investigation) which the Company may incur under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise, insofar as such loss, expense, liability, damage or claim arises out of or is based upon (A) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment), any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that the Company has filed or was required to file with the Commission, or the Prospectus, or any Application, (B) any omission or alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in any such Registration Statement, or necessary to make the statements made therein not misleading, or (C) any omission or alleged omission from any such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or any Application of a material fact necessary to make the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, but in each case only insofar as such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in such Registration Statement, Issuer Free Writing Prospectus, Prospectus or Application in reliance upon and in conformity with information furnished in writing by the Underwriters through the Representative to the Company expressly for use therein. The following statements under the caption “Underwriting” beginning on page 127 of the Preliminary Prospectus: (i) the third paragraph on page 127, (ii) the eighth paragraph on page 128 of the Preliminary Prospectus beginning with “The representative of the underwriters may engage…” until and including the last bullet of that paragraph ending with “…at which a stabilizing bid is made” on page 129 of the Preliminary Prospectus and (iii) the last three paragraphs on page 129 of the Preliminary Prospectus] (and the

corresponding sections of the Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, to the extent such statements relate to the Underwriters) constitute the only information furnished by or on behalf of any Underwriter through the Representative to the Company for purposes of Section 3(l) and Section 3(m) and this Section 9.

If any action is brought against the Company in respect of which indemnity may be sought against any Underwriter pursuant to the foregoing paragraph, the Company or such person shall promptly notify the Representative in writing of the institution of such action and the Representative, on behalf of the Underwriters, shall assume the defense of such action, including the employment of counsel and payment of expenses. The Company or such person shall have the right to employ its own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of the Company or such person unless the employment of such counsel shall have been authorized in writing by the Representative in connection with the defense of such action or the Representative shall not have employed counsel to have charge of the defense of such action within a reasonable time or such indemnified party or parties shall have reasonably concluded (based on the advice of counsel) that there may be defenses available to it or them which are different from or additional to those available to the Underwriters (in which case the Representative shall not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party or parties), in any of which events such fees and expenses shall be borne by such Underwriter and paid as incurred (it being understood, however, that the Underwriters shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate firm of attorneys in any one action or series of related actions in the same jurisdiction (other than local counsel in any such jurisdiction) representing the indemnified parties who are parties to such action). Anything in this paragraph to the contrary notwithstanding, no Underwriter shall be liable for any settlement of any such claim or action effected without the written consent of the Representative.

(c) If the indemnification provided for in this Section 9 is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this Section 9 in respect of any losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims referred to therein, then each applicable indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company and the Underwriters from the offering of the Shares or (ii) if (but only if) the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company and of the Underwriters in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, expenses, liabilities, damages or claims, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company and the Underwriters shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total proceeds from the offering (net of underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters. The relative fault of the Company and of the Underwriters shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue statement or alleged

untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The amount paid or payable by a party as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to above shall be deemed to include any legal or other fees or expenses reasonably incurred by such party in connection with investigating or defending any claim or action.

(d) The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 9 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in subsection (c)(i) and, if applicable, subsection (c)(ii), above. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 9, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the underwriting discounts and commissions applicable to the Shares purchased by such Underwriter. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The Underwriters’ obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 9 are several in proportion to their respective underwriting commitments and not joint.

10. Survival:

The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in Section 9 and the covenants, warranties and representations of the Company contained in Sections 3, 4 and 5 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, or any person who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and the respective directors, officers, employees and agents of each Underwriter or by or on behalf of the Company, its directors and officers, or any person who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, and shall survive any termination of this Agreement or the sale and delivery of the Shares. The Company and each Underwriter agree promptly to notify the others of the commencement of any litigation or proceeding against it and, in the case of the Company, against any of the Company’s officers and directors, in connection with the sale and delivery of the Shares, or in connection with the Registration Statement or Prospectus.

11. Duties:

Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between the parties. The Underwriters undertake to perform such duties and obligations only as expressly set forth herein. Such duties and obligations of the Underwriters with respect to the Shares shall be determined solely by the express provisions of this Agreement, and the Underwriters shall not be liable except for the performance of such duties and obligations with respect to the Shares as are specifically

set forth in this Agreement. The Company acknowledges and agrees that: (i) the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement, including the determination of the public offering price of the Shares and any related discounts and commissions, is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other hand, and the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding and understands and accepts the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (ii) in connection with each transaction contemplated hereby and the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is and has been acting solely as a principal and is not the financial advisor, agent or fiduciary of the Company or its affiliates, shareholders, creditors or employees or any other party; (iii) no Underwriter has assumed or will assume an advisory, agency or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to any of the transactions contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters); and (iv) the several Underwriters and their respective affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the several Underwriters have no obligation to disclose any of such interests. The Company acknowledges that the Underwriters disclaim any implied duties (including any fiduciary duty), covenants or obligations arising from the Underwriters’ performance of the duties and obligations expressly set forth herein. The Company hereby waives and releases, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that the Company may have against the several Underwriters with respect to any breach or alleged breach of agency or fiduciary duty.

12. Notices:

Except as otherwise herein provided, all statements, requests, notices and agreements shall be in writing or by telegram and, if to the Underwriters, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered to FBR Capital Markets & Co., 1001 19th Street North, Arlington, Virginia 22209, Attention: Syndicate Department; if to the Company, shall be sufficient in all respects if delivered to the Company at the offices of the Company at 301 East Main Street, Starkville, Mississippi 39759, Attention: Chief Executive Officer.

13. Governing Law; Headings:

THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, WITHOUT REGARD TO CONFLICTS OF LAWS PRINCIPLES. The section headings in this Agreement have been inserted as a matter of convenience of reference and are not a part of this Agreement.

14. Parties at Interest:

The Agreement herein set forth has been and is made solely for the benefit of the Underwriters, the Company and the controlling persons, directors and officers referred to in Sections 9 and 10 hereof, and their respective successors, assigns, executors and

administrators. No other person, partnership, association or corporation (including a purchaser, as such purchaser, from any of the Underwriters) shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement.

15. Counterparts and Facsimile Signatures:

This Agreement may be signed by the parties in counterparts which together shall constitute one and the same agreement among the parties. A facsimile signature shall constitute an original signature for all purposes.

[Remainder of Page Intentionally Left Blank]

If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding among the Company and the Underwriters, please so indicate in the space provided below for the purpose, whereupon this Agreement shall constitute a binding agreement among the Company and the Underwriters.


Very truly yours,

CADENCE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

By:
		By:
		Title:


Accepted and agreed to as of the date first above written:

FBR CAPITAL MARKETS & CO.

By:
By:		James R. Kleeblatt
Title:		Senior Managing Director

For itself and as Representative of the other Underwriters named on Schedule I hereto.

[Signature Page to the Underwriting Agreement]

Schedule I


Underwriter		Number of Initial Shares to be Purchased
FBR Capital Markets & Co.		[•]
Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc.		[•]

Total		[•]

S-1