Community First Bankshares (NASDAQ:CFBX)
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Federal Reserve Approves BancWest Acquisitions of Community First
Bankshares and USDB Bancorp
Acquisitions Make BancWest 7th-Largest Western Bank Holding Company
HONOLULU, SAN FRANCISCO and FARGO, N.D., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- BancWest
Corporation announced today that the Federal Reserve Board has approved
BancWest's acquisition of:
* Community First Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFBX), parent company of
Community First National Bank and Community First Insurance, Inc., and
* USDB Bancorp, parent company of Union Safe Deposit Bank.
Both transactions are expected to close October 31.
BancWest, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, is a bank holding company whose
principal subsidiaries are Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank.
Subject to FDIC approval, BancWest anticipates that Community First will be
merged into Bank of the West in December and Union Safe Deposit Bank will be
merged into Bank of the West in January. The acquisitions will expand Bank of
the West's presence in California and introduce the bank's brand to 10
additional states as far east as the Great Lakes.
Following the acquisitions, BancWest will be the seventh largest bank holding
company in the Western United States, with approximately $46 billion in assets
and more than 525 branches in 17 Western and Midwestern states, Guam and
Saipan.
Community First Bankshares, Inc.
In March, BancWest Corporation agreed to acquire Community First Bankshares,
Inc., by paying $32.25 in cash for each share of Community First common stock.
Nearly 97 percent of Community First shareholder votes cast on June 30 favored
the $1.2-billion transaction.
As of June 30, 2004, Community First Bankshares had total assets of $5.6
billion, deposits of $4.4 billion and loans of $3.4 billion. Its Community
First National Bank subsidiary operates 156 branches in 12 states in the
Southwest, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and east to Minnesota, Iowa and
Wisconsin.
USDB Bancorp
In April, BancWest announced an agreement to acquire USDB Bancorp (assets of
$1.1 billion as of June 30, 2004), which is headquartered in Stockton,
California, and operates 19 Union Safe Deposit Bank branches in San Joaquin and
Stanislaus Counties in the Central Valley.
About Bank of the West
Bank of the West (http://www.bankofthewest.com/), with $31 billion in assets as
of August 2004, has 297 branches in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada,
Washington state and Idaho. Founded in San Jose in 1874 as Farmers National
Gold Bank, Bank of the West is the third-largest commercial bank headquartered
in California.
About BancWest Corporation
BancWest Corporation (http://www.bancwestcorp.com/) is a bank holding company
with assets of approximately $41 billion as of August 2004. It is
headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, with an administrative headquarters in San
Francisco, California. Besides Bank of the West, BancWest's other principal
subsidiary is First Hawaiian Bank (56 branches in Hawaii, three in Guam and two
in Saipan). BancWest is a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas. BNP
Paribas, headquartered in Paris, is the most profitable bank in the Euro zone
and among the 10 largest banks in the world based on asset size.
About Community First Bankshares, Inc.
Community First Bankshares, Inc (http://www.communityfirst.com/), is a bank
holding company that operates Community First National Bank, which has 156
branches in 12 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota,
Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Community First also owns insurance agencies in 56 locations operated through
Community First Insurance, Inc.
About USDB Bancorp.
USDB Bancorp (http://www.unionsafe.com/) is a bank holding company that
operates Union Safe Deposit Bank, which has 19 branches in San Joaquin and
Stanislaus Counties in the Central Valley of California. It was founded in
1897 and provides a full array of banking products and services to individual
and businesses. The bank also provides financial management services,
including retirement planning, personal investing and personal trust services.
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements
regarding anticipated timing of the Community First and USDB Bancorp
transactions and possible performance of the combined company after the
transactions are completed. Such statements reflect management's best judgment
as of this date, but they involve risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those presented. Factors that could
cause such differences include, without limitation, (1) the possibility of
customer or employee attrition following the transactions; (2) failure to fully
realize expected cost savings from the transactions; (3) lower than expected
revenues following the transactions; (4) problems or delays in bringing
together the companies; (5) the possibility of adverse changes in global,
national or local economic or monetary conditions, (6) competition and change
in the financial services business, and (7) other factors described in
BancWest's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers
should carefully consider those risks and uncertainties in reading this
release. Except as otherwise required by law, BancWest, USDB Bancorp and
Community First Bankshares disclaim any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or
developments.
DATASOURCE: BancWest Corporation
CONTACT: Gerry Keir, +1-808-525-7086, or John Stafford, +1-925-942-8370,
both of BancWest Corporation; or Jeff Wilhoit, +1-312-640-6757, or Carol
Renner, +1-701-298-5709, both of Community First Bankshares, Inc.; or Steve
Stevenson of Union Safe Deposit Bank, +1-209-946-5097, or +1-209-969-1045
Web site: http://www.unionsafe.com/
Web site: http://www.bankofthewest.com/
Web site: http://www.communityfirst.com/
Web site: http://www.bancwestcorp.com/