{"id":5889,"date":"2022-10-09T20:56:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T03:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southernoregonbusiness.com\/?p=5889"},"modified":"2022-10-10T10:16:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T17:16:17","slug":"summary-of-dojs-letter-of-agreement-with-columbia-and-umpqua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southernoregonbusiness.com\/summary-of-dojs-letter-of-agreement-with-columbia-and-umpqua\/","title":{"rendered":"As part of the upcoming merger with Umpqua Bank, the Department of Justice is requiring the divestiture of ten Columbia Bank branches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have been waiting for news about the merger of Umpqua and Columbia Banks that was announced on October 12, 2021 and have not received any, but I found this notice on the Columbia Bank site on October 1st, 2022 about the requirement to sell of 10 branches that overlap with Umpqua in order for the deal to move forward. On the merger page they setup at Umpqua (https:\/\/www.umpquabank.com\/newsroom\/umpqua-bank-and-columbia-bank\/) they say the following:
“When will these consolidations occur? None of the consolidations will take place until after the official close of the proposed combination, the timing of which is still unknown at this time and is subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals. Once we have a closing date, we will share more details about the schedule and will provide at least 90 days\u2019 notice<\/strong> to customers of the affected locations.” <\/p>

So I’m reading into it, that the merger will not close for at least 90 more days. I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know when I know. <\/p>Jim Teece – Southern Oregon Business Journal (Publisher)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Message from Columbia Bank regarding the notice:<\/p>

As part of our upcoming merger with Umpqua Bank, the Department of Justice is requiring the divestiture of ten Columbia Bank branches. A divestiture means that we must sell an existing branch location, along with associated deposits and loans, to another financial institution. Employees who work in one of the ten branches being divested are expected to become employees of the new financial institution. The selection of these branches was not made by Columbia Bank or Umpqua Bank. The Department of Justice identified these locations after they conducted a review of competition in markets where Columbia and Umpqua operate.<\/p>

The Department of Justice Antitrust Division closely reviews mergers between banks to ensure a market continues to provide competitive banking options after the merger is complete. After reviewing our overlapping footprint, they determined there are ten locations that should be divested to ensure appropriate competition in the market after the close of our merger.<\/p>

At this time, we have not entered into any definitive agreements with another financial institution to purchase the ten branches. Once we have a signed agreement, you will receive information about the financial institution as well as details and timelines surrounding the transition of your accounts and services to the new bank.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On September 17, 2022, Columbia Banking Systems, Inc
(\u201cColumbia\u201d) and Umpqua Holdings Corporation (\u201cUmpqua\u201d) (collectively, the \u201cParties\u201d) entered into a Letter of Agreement (the \u201cLOA\u201d) with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (the \u201cDOJ\u201d) regarding the proposed merger between Columbia and Umpqua (the \u201cTransaction\u201d)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This notice summarizes the terms of the LOA
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The LOA requires that the Parties divest the ten Columbia branches listed in the following table (the \u201cDivestiture Branches\u201d), along with all associated deposits and loans
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Under the LOA, the Parties may not exclude customer relationships from the Divestiture unless agreed with the DOJ
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the Parties must work to preserve the operation of the Divestiture Branches and not do anything to impede the operations or divestiture of the Divestiture Branches, including any action that would cause a decrease in the number of customers at the Divestiture Branches before the consummation of the Divestiture
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parties may not reacquire any of the Divestiture Branches for at least five years after the consummation of the Divestiture
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Parties decide to close any Columbia or Umpqua branch in any of the counties listed in the above table (the \u201cDivestiture Counties\u201d) within three years of the close of the Transaction, the Parties must provide the DOJ prior notice and endeavor to sell or lease any such branch to a commercial bank if they are able to so
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parties also made the following agreements respecting employees assigned to the Divestiture Branches: (1) before the completion of the Divestiture, the Parties may not transfer away from any Divestiture Branch any branch manager, assistant branch manager, or loan officer, (2) the Parties may not dismiss any branch manager, assistant branch manager, or loan officer assigned to a Divestiture Branch except for cause after giving notice to the DOJ, (3) the Parties must provide information to help facilitate the transition of these employees to, including by not interfering with these employees\u2019 negotiations with, the Divestiture Buyer, and (4) the Parties must waive any existing non-compete for any Columbia branch manager, assistant branch manager, or loan officer located in any of the Divestiture Counties and may not enter into any new non-compete with any Columbia branch manager, assistant branch manager, or loan officer located in any of the Divestiture Counties for 180 days after the consummation of the Transaction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been waiting for news about the merger of Umpqua and Columbia Banks that was announced on October 12, 2021 and have not received any, but I found this notice on the Columbia Bank site on October 1st, 2022 about the requirement to sell of 10 branches that overlap with Umpqua in order for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":5960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAs part of the upcoming merger with Umpqua Bank, the Department of Justice is requiring the divestiture of ten Columbia Bank branches - Southern Oregon Business Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southernoregonbusiness.com\/summary-of-dojs-letter-of-agreement-with-columbia-and-umpqua\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As part of the upcoming merger with Umpqua Bank, the Department of Justice is requiring the divestiture of ten Columbia Bank branches - 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