<div id="readability-page-1"><div> <div><figure> <img width="740" height="493" src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://arizent.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aeb4c0a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4330x2887+0+0/resize/740x493?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://arizent.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/aeb4c0a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4330x2887+0+0/resize/740x493"/> <div> <figcaption>Hope Bancorp closed its acquisition of Territorial Bancorp.</figcaption><p>Adobe Stock</p> </div> </figure></div> </div><p>Hope Bancorp closed its acquisition of Territorial Bancorp in Honolulu on Wednesday, culminating a lengthy and at times controversial deal process.</p><p>When the Los Angeles-based Hope announced the <u>all-stock deal</u> in April 2024, it had expected to close it by the end of the year. But its $78.6 million offer was challenged by a competing bid from an investor group led by <u>Blue Hill Advisors and former Bank of Hawaii CEO Allan Landon</u>. The Blue Hill-led group initially made a cash bid in August that valued Territorial at $12 per share and then upped that offer to $12.50 per share, about 50% more than Hope's estimated price tag.</p><p>&#34;We think our offer is clearly superior,&#34; Landon told American Banker last fall.</p><p>But Territorial's board of directors ultimately rejected the competing offer, saying it was &#34;inferior&#34; to Hope's because it presented a range of uncertainties. These included a lack of evidence that the competing offer would get prompt regulatory approval. Territorial noted it would have to pay Hope a $3 million termination fee to pursue the investor group's offer, and it said the deal with Hope also prevented it from considering competing offers that were not clearly superior.</p><p>Ultimately, Territorial's shareholders <u>voted in favor</u> of the sale to Hope in November, with more than 5 million votes cast for the deal versus 1.9 million against it. Regulators approved the transaction in March.</p><p>&#34;We are excited to have completed this combination and to officially welcome Territorial customers and team members to the Bank of Hope family,&#34; Kevin Kim, Hope's chairman and CEO, said in a statement Wednesday.</p><p>With the acquisition, Hope gains about $2 billion of assets and entrance to Hawaii. It now is a $19 billion-asset bank with about 80 branches in nine states. About 30 of those branches are in Hawaii. Hope has traditionally focused on Korean-American communities.</p><p>&#34;We believe this combination will strengthen our position as one of the leading Asian-American banks in the country, add a stable, low-cost deposit base to the combined company, and accelerate the diversification of our loan mix with the addition of a residential mortgage portfolio with excellent asset quality,&#34; Kim said in a statement last month after securing regulators' go-ahead.</p><p>&#34;We look forward to building on Territorial's legacy of exemplary customer service and support of local communities in a strategically important market,&#34; he added.</p><p>Hope said in the release Wednesday that the former Territorial Savings Bank now operates under the trade name Territorial Savings, a division of Bank of Hope. Hope kept the name to preserve &#34;the 100-plus year legacy of the Territorial brand, culture and commitment to local communities,&#34; it said.</p><p>Territorial was the fifth largest deposit-holder in Hawaii, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The merger creates the largest regional bank catering to multi-ethnic customers across the continental U.S. and the Hawaiian Islands, Hope said.</p><p>When the deal was announced, Hope said it expected the transaction to be about 6% dilutive to its tangible book value, and that it would earn back the dilution in three years. Hopet had also estimated that its shareholders would own about 94.4% of the combined entity, while Territorial shareholders would own about 5.6%.</p></div>

HOPE

TBNK

<p>Hope Bancorp has successfully completed its acquisition of Territorial Bancorp after a protracted negotiation process that included competing offers. The deal, valued at $78.6 million, faced challenges from a bid led by Blue Hill Advisors but was ultimately approved by Territorial's shareholders and regulators. With this acquisition, Hope Bancorp expands its assets to approximately $19 billion and strengthens its presence in Hawaii, now operating about 30 branches there. The former Territorial Savings Bank will continue under its name as a division of Bank of Hope, preserving its legacy.</p>

Hope Bancorp closes drawn-out deal to buy Hawaii bank