Shareholders of Everett-based Cascade Financial Corp. will hold a special meeting May 31 to vote on a buyout of the company by Opus Bank of California.
Shareholders should soon receive notice of the meeting and proxy statements about the vote. In March, an offer from Opus to buy Cascade for $21.75 million was approved by the board of directors, who hold 10.5 percent of Cascade’s stock.
The deal would provide $5.5 million in cash for stockholders and $16.25 million for the U.S. government, which provided Cascade with $39 million under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
In a letter to stockholders, Cascade Chief Executive Carol Nelson said the government “has indicated its willingness to agree to sell its Cascade preferred stock and warrant to Opus Bank” for the lesser amount.
Nelson said the meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center at Comcast Arena in downtown Everett. If approved by shareholders and bank regulators, the deal would be completed toward the end of June, Nelson said.
“We certainly hope shareholders understand the very difficult environment banks have been working under for the last few years,” Nelson said. “This is a good alternative for shareholders.”
Nelson, who would become president of Opus in Washington under the proposal, said Cascade will “work hard to be a community bank with great service.
“It’s a great way to ensure the ongoing operations of the bank,” she said of the sale.
Founded in 1912, Cascade is the oldest and largest bank headquartered in Snohomish County. Regulators had ordered it to raise more capital or find a buyer, and Cascade chose Opus of Irvine, Calif.
Opus is headed by Stephen Gordon, an investment banker who bought it last fall, providing the $40 million in new capital it needed and adding $420 million more from a group of investors.
He said he plans to use the money to build a new regional bank in the West, first in Washington, Oregon and California and eventually in Arizona and Nevada.
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