Columbia Banking Systems, which is the parent of Columbia State Bank, has gotten the green light to merge with Umpqua Holdings. 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 affect the combination, which we expect will create meaningful shareholder value as it expands opportunities for our customers, employees, and communities.
The Columbia-Umpqua team-up mostly operates in Washington, California, and Oregon. Columbia, which based in Tacoma, Wash., is the smaller of the two banks but is making the acquisition of Umpqua. The new bank will operate as Umpqua Bank with a Portland, Ore., area headquarters. Columbia bought Bank of Commerce Holdings in Sacramento, Calif., two weeks ago, pushing its assets from about $18 billion to $20 billion. Umpqua, meanwhile, had about $30 billion in assets at the end of June. Umpqua shareholders will receive 0.5958 shares of Columbia stock for each Umpqua share, the companies said in their announcement of the deal. After the transaction is finalized, likely in the middle of next year, Umpqua shareholders will own about 62% of the company and Columbia shareholders will own about 38%.