PORTERVILLE, Calif.,
Sept. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/
-- Sierra Bancorp (NASDAQ:BSRR), the holding company of Bank
of the Sierra and OCB Bancorp (OTC: OJCB), the parent company of
Ojai Community Bank, announced today that all necessary approvals
were received for the acquisition of OCB Bancorp, following the OCB
Bancorp shareholder vote on September 21,
2017. Subject to satisfaction of customary closing
conditions, Ojai Community Bank will close its doors on
September 29, 2017 and re-open on
October 2, 2017 as Bank of the
Sierra.
Kevin McPhaill, Bank President
and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of the Sierra said, "We are
excited for the opportunity to expand along the coast and look
forward to serving the communities of Santa Barbara, Santa
Paula, Ojai and
Ventura. We remain confident that
Bank of the Sierra's financial strength and overarching commitment
to customer satisfaction will continue the legacy built by Ojai
Community Bank."
David Brubaker, President and
Chief Executive Officer of OCB Bancorp and Ojai Community Bank
stated, "We are very pleased to be joining with Bank of the Sierra
and believe this is an excellent opportunity for our shareholders,
customers and employees to realize enhanced value by being part of
a larger financial institution with considerably deeper resources,
operational scale and a steady stream of core earnings. I
really feel that our cultures match very well and our focus on
helping the customer, which is unique to community banking, is core
to their strategy. Our customers will benefit with access to
many more products and services, together with significantly
increased lending capacity, enabling us to meet more of the needs
of our customers and our community."
About OCB Bancorp
OCB Bancorp, a locally owned and
operated holding company, was formed in September 2013 as the parent company of Ojai
Community Bank and its divisions, Santa Barbara Community Bank,
Ventura Community Bank and Santa Paula Community Bank. The family
of banks offers a full array of banking products and services to
businesses, professionals, individuals and commercial property
owners.
About Sierra Bancorp & Bank of the Sierra
Sierra
Bancorp is the holding company for Bank of the Sierra
(www.bankofthesierra.com), which is in its 40th year of
operations and is the largest independent bank headquartered in the
South San Joaquin Valley. Bank of
the Sierra is a community-centric regional bank, which offers a
full range of retail and commercial banking services via 35
full-service branches located throughout California's South
San Joaquin Valley and neighboring communities, on the
Central Coast, and in Southern
California locations including the Santa Clara Valley. We
also maintain a loan production office and an online branch, and
provide specialized lending services through an agricultural credit
center, a real estate industries center, and an SBA center.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this
release, other than those concerning historical financial
information, may be considered forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date of this release and are based on current
expectations and involve a number of assumptions. These include
statements as to the anticipated benefits of the merger, including
future financial and operating results, cost savings and enhanced
revenues that may be realized from the merger as well as other
statements of expectations regarding the merger and any other
statements regarding future results or expectations. Each of Sierra
Bancorp and OCB Bancorp intends such forward-looking statements to
be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking
statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and is including this statement for purposes of these
safe harbor provisions. The companies' respective abilities to
predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies
is inherently uncertain. Factors which could have a material effect
on the operations and future prospects of each of Sierra Bancorp
and OCB Bancorp and the resulting company, include but are not
limited to: the businesses of Sierra Bancorp and/or OCB Bancorp may
not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more
difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; expected revenue
synergies and cost savings from the merger may not be fully
realized or realized within the expected time frame; revenues
following the merger may be lower than expected; customer and
employee relationships and business operations may be disrupted by
the merger; the ability to obtain required regulatory and
shareholder approvals, and the ability to complete the merger on
the expected timeframe may be more difficult, time-consuming or
costly than expected; changes in interest rates, general economic
conditions, legislative/regulatory changes, monetary and fiscal
policies of the U.S. government, including policies of the U.S.
Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve; the
quality and composition of the loan and securities portfolios;
demand for loan products; deposit flows; competition; demand for
financial services in the companies' respective market areas; their
implementation of new technologies; their ability to develop and
maintain secure and reliable electronic systems; and accounting
principles, policies, and guidelines, and other risk factors
detailed from time to time. Sierra Bancorp and OCB Bancorp
undertake no obligation to update or clarify these forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
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SOURCE Sierra Bancorp