Columbia Banking Systems, which is the parent of Columbia State Bank, has gotten the green light to merge with Umpqua Holdings, a Seeking Alpha report says.
The results on the proposals voted on at the special meetings of shareholders will be set forth in the companies’ Form 8-Ks.
“The receipt of shareholder approval marks an important milestone on our integration timeline,” said Clint Stein, president and CEO of Columbia. “The support for the transaction by each company’s respective shareholder bases is evidenced by an overwhelming amount of voted shares voting in favor of the proposals required to effect the combination, which we expect will create meaningful shareholder value as it expands opportunities for our customers, employees, and communities.”
Meanwhile, Cort O’Haver, president and CEO of Umpqua, said the vote “brings us one step closer to creating the leading regional bank headquartered in the West.”
“We look forward to providing additional updates to our stakeholders as we continue to meticulously plan for the joining of our two similar-minded organizations.”
PYMNTS wrote about the companies’ intent to combine last year, writing that the companies agreed to a $5.1 billion all-stock deal.
Read more: Columbia Banking and Umpqua Bank Join Forces for $5B
The combined institution became one of the biggest financial institutions on the West Coast.
The company will operate primarily in Washington, California and Oregon.
Columbia is the smaller bank, based out of Tacoma, Washington, though it was the company that made the acquisition.
Stein was decided to be the new leader of the bank. He said the bank had not gone into the deal with the idea of making its stock move for one day – rather, it was done with the intent of making long-term value, he added.
Columbia also bought Bank of Commerce Holdings in Sacramento two weeks ago, which pushed its assets from $18 billion to $20 billion.
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