On May 13, 2024, California BanCorp (“CBC”) and Southern California Bancorp (“SCB”) issued a joint press release announcing that they have received required regulatory approvals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco necessary to complete their previously announced merger of equals between the two bank holding companies and their respective subsidiaries, California Bank of Commerce and Bank of Southern California, N.A., pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, dated January 30, 2024 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and between CBC and SCB.
A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits |
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This communication may contain certain forward-looking statements, including but not limited to certain plans, expectations, projections and statements about the benefits of the proposed merger (the “Merger”), the timing of completion of the Merger, and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “estimate,” “plan,” “target,” “goal,” or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “would,” “could,” or similar variations. The forward-looking statements are intended to be subject to the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Factors that could cause or contribute to results differing from those in or implied in the forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the right of SCB or CBC to terminate their agreement with respect to the Merger; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against SCB or CBC; delays in completing the Merger; the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals (and the risk that such approvals impose conditions that could adversely affect the combined company or the expected benefits of the Merger); the failure to obtain shareholder approvals or to satisfy any of the other conditions to the Merger on a timely basis or at all; the ability to complete the Merger and integration of SCB and CBC successfully; costs being greater than anticipated; cost savings being less than anticipated; changes in economic conditions; the risk that the Merger disrupts the business of SCB, CBC or both; difficulties in retaining senior management, employees or customers; the impact of bank failures or other adverse developments at other banks on general investor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks; and other factors that may affect the future results of SCB and CBC. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in SCB’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and is available in the “Investor Relations” section of SCB’s website, www.banksocal.com, in CBC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is on file with the SEC and is available in the “Investor Relations” section of CBC’s website, www.californiabankofcommerce.com, and in other documents that SCB and CBC file with the SEC. Investors may obtain free copies of these documents and other documents filed with the SEC on its website at www.sec.gov.
All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and are based on information available at that time. Neither SCB nor CBC assumes any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements were made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by federal securities laws. As forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, caution should be exercised against placing undue reliance on such statements.
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