ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.,
March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- C1
Financial, Inc. (NYSE: BNK) ("C1"), announced today that, at its
special meeting of shareholders held today, a majority of the
outstanding shares of C1 common stock voted to approve the adoption
of the merger agreement with Bank of the Ozarks, Inc. ("OZRK"). The
transaction is expected to close late in the first quarter or in
the second quarter of 2016.
More than 99.7 percent of the votes cast were in favor of
approving the merger agreement, which represented approximately
83.51 percent of the outstanding shares of C1 common stock at
January 29, 2016, the record date for
the special meeting.
About C1 Financial, Inc.
Our name expresses our
ideals to put our Clients 1st and our Community
1st. We are focused on serving the needs of
entrepreneurs, tailoring a wide range of relationship banking
services to entrepreneurs and their families, including commercial
loans and a full line of depository products. We are based
in St. Petersburg, Florida and operate from 32 banking
centers and one loan production office on the West Coast
of Florida and
in Miami-Dade, Broward and Orange Counties.
As of December 31, 2015, we were the
19th largest bank headquartered in the state
of Florida by assets and the 17th largest
by equity, having grown both organically and through acquisitions.
Additional information is available at www.c1bank.com.
CAUTION ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This communication contains certain forward-looking information
about C1 and OZRK that is intended to be covered by the safe harbor
for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements
of historical fact are forward-looking statements. In some cases,
you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "may,"
"hope," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend,"
"believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "could,"
"future" or the negative of those terms or other words of similar
meaning. These forward-looking statements include, without
limitation, statements relating to the terms and closing of the
proposed transaction between C1 and OZRK, the proposed impact of
the merger on OZRK's financial results, including any expected
increase in OZRK's book value and tangible book value per common
share and any expected increase in diluted earnings per common
share, acceptance by C1's customers of OZRK's products and
services, the opportunities to enhance market share in certain
markets, market acceptance of OZRK generally in new markets, and
the integration of C1's operations. You should carefully read
forward-looking statements, including statements that contain these
words, because they discuss the future expectations or state other
"forward-looking" information about C1 and OZRK. A number
of important factors could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking
statements, many of which are beyond the parties' control,
including the parties' ability to consummate the transaction or
satisfy the conditions to the completion of the transaction,
including the receipt of regulatory approvals required for the
transaction on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule;
the parties' ability to meet expectations regarding the timing,
completion and accounting and tax treatments of the transaction;
the possibility that any of the anticipated benefits of the
proposed merger will not be realized or will not be realized within
the expected time period; the risk that integration of C1's
operations with those of OZRK will be materially delayed or will be
more costly or difficult than expected; the failure of the proposed
merger to close for any other reason; the effect of the
announcement of the merger on customer relationships and
operating results (including, without limitation, difficulties in
maintaining relationships with employees or customers); dilution
caused by OZRK's issuance of additional shares of its common stock
in connection with the merger; the possibility that the merger may
be more expensive to complete than anticipated, including as a
result of unexpected factors or events; the diversion of management
time on transaction related issues; general competitive, economic,
political and market conditions and fluctuations; changes in the
regulatory environment; changes in the economy affecting real
estate values; C1's ability to achieve loan and deposit growth;
projected population and income growth in C1's targeted market
areas; volatility and direction of market interest rates and a
weakening of the economy which could materially impact credit
quality trends and the ability to generate loans; and the other
factors described in C1's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2015 filed
with the SEC or OZRK's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2015 filed
with the SEC. C1 and OZRK assume no obligation to update the
information in this communication, except as otherwise required by
law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, all of which speak only as of the date
hereof.
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SOURCE C1 Financial, Inc.