UCBH Holdings, Inc. Elects Not to Increase Its Offer for Great Eastern Bank
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday February 21, 4:00 pm ET
UCBH Adheres to its Disciplined Pricing Strategy for Acquisitions
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 21, 2006--UCBH Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:UCBH), the holding company of United Commercial Bank (UCB(TM)), today announced that UCBH has elected not to pursue further the acquisition of Great Eastern Bank. In August 2005, the Board of Directors of Great Eastern Bank invited UCBH to make a proposal as a "white knight" to acquire Great Eastern Bank following Cathay General Bancorp's announcement that it had acquired options to purchase approximately 41% of the outstanding shares of Great Eastern Bank. On October 13, 2005, UCBH, UCB, and Great Eastern Bank entered into a merger agreement providing for UCBH to acquire Great Eastern Bank for $56.33 per share in cash and UCBH stock, as adjusted for the appraised value of certain Great Eastern Bank real estate.
In keeping with its disciplined strategy to price acquisitions at levels which optimize shareholder value, UCBH elected not to increase its offer of $56.33 per share of Great Eastern Bank stock, believing that the transaction was fully and fairly priced at that level. In accordance with the merger agreement, UCBH today received a termination fee of $5 million.
"We believe that UCBH offered Great Eastern Bank's shareholders a full and fair price, as well as a transaction that was in the long-term interests of Great Eastern Bank's shareholders, employees, and customers," said Thomas S. Wu, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of UCBH Holdings, Inc. "While the Great Eastern Bank Board of Directors offered us the opportunity to match the Cathay General Bancorp offer, we believe that doing so was not in the best interests of our shareholders. We are fully committed to our expansion into metropolitan New York and will use a portion of the $5 million termination fee to further expand our presence in the Greater New York market. We wish all of the Great Eastern Bank shareholders, employees, and customers well in their future endeavors," concluded Mr. Wu. |
