Exhibit 99.2
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News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2004
[Huntington Logo]
HUNTINGTON BANCSHARES INCORPORATED CONTACTS:
INVESTORS & ANALYSTS MEDIA
Jay Gould (614) 480-4060 Todd Bailey (614) 480-4588
Susan Stuart (614) 480-3878
[Unizan Logo]
UNIZAN FINANCIAL CORP. CONTACTS:
INVESTORS & ANALYSTS MEDIA
Roger Mann (330) 438-1118 Sandy Upperman (330) 438-4858
HUNTINGTON BANCSHARES INCORPORATED AND
UNIZAN FINANCIAL CORP.
ANNOUNCE MERGER AGREEMENT EXTENSION
COLUMBUS and CANTON, Ohio - Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN)
and Unizan Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: UNIZ) today jointly announced that they have
entered into an amendment to their January 26, 2004 merger agreement. The
amendment extends the term of the agreement for one year from January 27, 2005
to January 27, 2006.
The amendment does not change the previously agreed upon exchange ratio whereby
Unizan shareholders will receive 1.1424 shares of Huntington common stock, on a
tax-free basis, for each share of Unizan common stock.
The amendment modifies certain terms relating to Unizan's ability to declare
dividends by allowing for a one-time special cash dividend declared shortly
prior to completion of a merger in an amount equal to the difference between any
dividends declared by Huntington, adjusted for the exchange ratio, and those
declared by Unizan, from and after January 1, 2005.
The original merger agreement is contained in a registration statement on Form
S-4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the merger agreement
amendment extending the term of the agreement, providing for the dividend
adjustment and certain other matters will be filed by Huntington and Unizan in
reports on Form 8-K. These materials may be obtained for free at the Securities
and Exchange Commission's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov) and on both
organizations' Internet sites at either www.huntington.com or www.unizan.com
under SEC filings.
"Huntington remains committed to merging with Unizan and the signing of the
amendment to the merger agreement represents an extension of that commitment,"
said Thomas E. Hoaglin, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of
Huntington. "We appreciate the patience of Unizan shareholders, employees, and
customers during this process."
"We have a high regard for Huntington's management team, as well as its
franchise, which has a local-decision based culture and customer base very
similar to our own and we look forward to moving forward with the merger
approval process," said Roger L. Mann, president and chief executive officer of
Unizan.
As announced November 3, 2004, Huntington will be withdrawing its current
application with the Federal Reserve to acquire Unizan and intends to resubmit
the application for regulatory approval of the merger once Huntington has
successfully resolved previously announced SEC and banking regulatory concerns.
No assurances, however, can be provided as to the ultimate timing or outcome of
these matters.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including
certain plans, expectations, goals, and projections, which are subject to
numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. A number of factors, including
but not limited to those described from time to time in Huntington's Annual
Report on Form 10-K and Unizan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2003, and documents subsequently filed by Huntington and Unizan
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, could cause actual conditions,
events, or results to differ significantly from those described in the
forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements included in this news
release are based on information available at the time of the release.
Huntington and Unizan assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement.
ABOUT HUNTINGTON
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $32 billion regional bank holding
company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Through its affiliated companies,
Huntington has more than 138 years of serving the financial needs of its
customers. Huntington provides innovative retail and commercial financial
products and services through more than 300 regional banking offices in Indiana,
Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Huntington also offers retail and
commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its
technologically advanced, 24-hour telephone bank; and through its network of
approximately 700 ATMs. Selected financial service activities are also conducted
in other states including: Dealer Sales offices in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee,
Pennsylvania, and Arizona; Private Financial Group offices in Florida; and
Mortgage Banking offices in Florida, Maryland, and New Jersey. International
banking services are made available through the headquarters office in Columbus
and an office located in the Cayman Islands and an office located in Hong Kong.
ABOUT UNIZAN
Unizan Financial Corp., a $2.6 billion holding company, is a financial services
organization headquartered in Canton, Ohio. The company operates 43 full-service
retail financial centers in five metropolitan markets in Ohio - Canton,
Columbus, Dayton, Newark and Zanesville. Through Unizan Financial Corp.'s
subsidiaries, Unizan Bank, National Association; Unizan Financial Services
Group, National Association; Unizan Banc Financial Services, Inc.; and Unizan
Financial Advisors, Inc., the company offers its client base corporate and
retail banking, Internet banking and wealth management products and services.
Additionally, the company operates government guaranteed loan programs through
its business lending centers in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton,
Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Mt. Arlington, New Jersey and Indianapolis, Indiana.
For more information on Unizan Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit the
company on the Web at www.unizan.com.