CFBX Community First Bankshares (MM)

Federal Reserve Approves BancWest Acquisitions of Community First Bankshares and USDB Bancorp Acquisitions Make BancWest 7th-Largest Western Bank Holding Company HONOLULU, SAN FRANCISCO and FARGO, N.D., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- BancWest Corporation announced today that the Federal Reserve Board has approved BancWest's acquisition of: * Community First Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFBX), parent company of Community First National Bank and Community First Insurance, Inc., and * USDB Bancorp, parent company of Union Safe Deposit Bank. Both transactions are expected to close October 31. BancWest, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiaries are Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank. Subject to FDIC approval, BancWest anticipates that Community First will be merged into Bank of the West in December and Union Safe Deposit Bank will be merged into Bank of the West in January. The acquisitions will expand Bank of the West's presence in California and introduce the bank's brand to 10 additional states as far east as the Great Lakes. Following the acquisitions, BancWest will be the seventh largest bank holding company in the Western United States, with approximately $46 billion in assets and more than 525 branches in 17 Western and Midwestern states, Guam and Saipan. Community First Bankshares, Inc. In March, BancWest Corporation agreed to acquire Community First Bankshares, Inc., by paying $32.25 in cash for each share of Community First common stock. Nearly 97 percent of Community First shareholder votes cast on June 30 favored the $1.2-billion transaction. As of June 30, 2004, Community First Bankshares had total assets of $5.6 billion, deposits of $4.4 billion and loans of $3.4 billion. Its Community First National Bank subsidiary operates 156 branches in 12 states in the Southwest, Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and east to Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. USDB Bancorp In April, BancWest announced an agreement to acquire USDB Bancorp (assets of $1.1 billion as of June 30, 2004), which is headquartered in Stockton, California, and operates 19 Union Safe Deposit Bank branches in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties in the Central Valley. About Bank of the West Bank of the West (http://www.bankofthewest.com/), with $31 billion in assets as of August 2004, has 297 branches in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington state and Idaho. Founded in San Jose in 1874 as Farmers National Gold Bank, Bank of the West is the third-largest commercial bank headquartered in California. About BancWest Corporation BancWest Corporation (http://www.bancwestcorp.com/) is a bank holding company with assets of approximately $41 billion as of August 2004. It is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, with an administrative headquarters in San Francisco, California. Besides Bank of the West, BancWest's other principal subsidiary is First Hawaiian Bank (56 branches in Hawaii, three in Guam and two in Saipan). BancWest is a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas, headquartered in Paris, is the most profitable bank in the Euro zone and among the 10 largest banks in the world based on asset size. About Community First Bankshares, Inc. Community First Bankshares, Inc (http://www.communityfirst.com/), is a bank holding company that operates Community First National Bank, which has 156 branches in 12 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Community First also owns insurance agencies in 56 locations operated through Community First Insurance, Inc. About USDB Bancorp. USDB Bancorp (http://www.unionsafe.com/) is a bank holding company that operates Union Safe Deposit Bank, which has 19 branches in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties in the Central Valley of California. It was founded in 1897 and provides a full array of banking products and services to individual and businesses. The bank also provides financial management services, including retirement planning, personal investing and personal trust services. This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding anticipated timing of the Community First and USDB Bancorp transactions and possible performance of the combined company after the transactions are completed. Such statements reflect management's best judgment as of this date, but they involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those presented. Factors that could cause such differences include, without limitation, (1) the possibility of customer or employee attrition following the transactions; (2) failure to fully realize expected cost savings from the transactions; (3) lower than expected revenues following the transactions; (4) problems or delays in bringing together the companies; (5) the possibility of adverse changes in global, national or local economic or monetary conditions, (6) competition and change in the financial services business, and (7) other factors described in BancWest's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers should carefully consider those risks and uncertainties in reading this release. Except as otherwise required by law, BancWest, USDB Bancorp and Community First Bankshares disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or developments. DATASOURCE: BancWest Corporation CONTACT: Gerry Keir, +1-808-525-7086, or John Stafford, +1-925-942-8370, both of BancWest Corporation; or Jeff Wilhoit, +1-312-640-6757, or Carol Renner, +1-701-298-5709, both of Community First Bankshares, Inc.; or Steve Stevenson of Union Safe Deposit Bank, +1-209-946-5097, or +1-209-969-1045 Web site: http://www.unionsafe.com/ Web site: http://www.bankofthewest.com/ Web site: http://www.communityfirst.com/ Web site: http://www.bancwestcorp.com/

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