Territorial in Hawaii delays investor vole on sale to Hope Bancorp
Territorial Bancorp in Honolulu, which is facing pressure from an unsolicited offer, has postponed a shareholder vote for its pending sale to Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles.
The $2.2 billion-asset company said in a press release that it will move the meeting from Oct. 10 to Nov. 6 to give its board and management time “to continue discussions with stockholders regarding” the agreement with Hope. Territorial’s board said it continues to unanimously recommend selling to Hope.
The delay comes days after proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services recommended that Territorial shareholders reject the sale to Hope. ISS also made comments supportive of the unsolicited bid by a group that includes banking veteran Allan Landon and Blue Hill Advisors.
“Given the lack of a robust sales process, the fact that the merger agreement restrictions accepted by the board limit its ability to engage with a competing bidder, and the improved outlook for financial institutions, the proposed merger with Hope does not appear to maximize value for shareholders,” ISS said in its report.
“Despite some uncertainty, the competing offer … appears sufficiently credible to mitigate the downside risk of rejecting the proposed merger – as reflected by the fact that shares are currently trading above the implied merger consideration,” ISS added.
The $18.1 billion-asset Hope agreed earlier this year to pay $77.9 million for Territorial. The Landon-Blue Hill group has proposed a tender offer where it would pay $12.50 a share for at least 70% of the Hawaiian bank.