Regional lender Sterling Bancorp raised the size of its common share offering by 47 percent that was priced at $8 apiece.

The New York-based company raised the size of its share offering to 7.5 million from 5.1 million and priced it at a 2 percent discount to the stock's Monday close.

The proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes and will qualify as tangible common equity and Tier 1 regulatory capital, it said in a statement.

Sterling Bancorp granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.1 million shares.

Shares of the company were up 9 cents at $8.27 Tuesday before the bell. They closed at $8.18 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Abhinav Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)