Central Pacific Financial Corp. launched a much-anticipated $20 million rights offering yesterday that enables shareholders of rec­ord as of Feb. 17 to purchase up to 1.3 new shares at $10 a share for every share they own.

The period to exercise the rights expires at the end of trading on May 6. The rights for the 2 million shares can be transfered to another party or sold on the open market. Sales of the rights will be tradable on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPF-RT beginning today through May 5.

The rights-offering price for general investors is the same price paid by private investors in the company’s $325 million private placement.

Central Pacific Bank’s parent closed down 61 cents, or 3 percent, yesterday at $19.43 per share.

Eligible shareholders will be sent a prospectus and certificate to exercise their rights.

The company also said that 18.5 million of the 32.5 million shares sold in the private placement at $10 per share will become freely tradable on the market when the registration statement for those shares becomes effective later this week. The stock could decline afterward due to the additional shares flooding the market.

The U.S. Treasury’s 5.6 million shares that were received in exchange for Troubled Asset Relief Program preferred shares also are unrestricted and already available to be traded.