Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles said Monday it expects to complete its pending acquisition of Territorial Bancorp in Honolulu in April after receiving regulatory approvals.
The regulatory thumbs-up comes several months after the all-stock deal, which was valued at $78.6 million when
Hope is the $17 billion-asset parent company of Bank of Hope, which operates 49 branches in eight states and focuses on the Korean-American community. By acquiring Territorial, the $2.2 billion-asset parent of Territorial Savings Bank, Hope will expand its footprint to Hawaii and add about 29 branches. It will also gain a residential mortgage portfolio with good credit quality.
The deal "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," Hope Chairman and CEO Kevin Kim said in a press release Monday announcing receipt of regulatory approvals.
Post-acquisition, Territorial will operate as "Territorial Savings, a division of Bank of Hope," the two companies said in the release. Territorial is currently the fifth largest deposit-holder in Hawaii, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s latest annual deposit market report.
"This combination effectively enhances the opportunity to grow Territorial's market share and elevate the customer experience by leveraging the combined company's larger balance sheet, greater resources and more extensive array of banking products and services," Allan Kitagawa, Territorial's chairman and CEO said in the release. "We expect a seamless transition for our customers, and we believe our employees and shareholders stand to enjoy greater long-term benefits as part of a larger organization."
The process of getting the deal over the finish line has
The group later upped the offer to $110.4 million, or $12.50 per share. Hope previously said its offer priced Territorial at $8.82 per share.
Territorial's board of directors
The Honolulu-based seller had faced pushback from an investor group that stepped in with a competing offer. But it ultimately secured enough votes to approve the sale to Hope Bancorp.
In addition, Territorial said last fall that it would have to pay Hope a $3 million termination fee to pursue the investor group's offer, and noted that its deal with Hope prevented it from considering competing offers that were not clearly superior to the one offered by Hope.
In October, Territorial postponed a scheduled shareholder vote on the offer by Hope, a move that was meant to allow Territorial's board and management team to "continue discussions with stockholders" about the proposal. Territorial continued to say it was
During Hope's fourth-quarter earnings call in January, Kim said he expected the acquisition to be finalized during the first quarter. The company forecasted loan growth in the high single-digit percentage range for 2025, reflecting "moderate organic loan growth" and the addition of Territorial's loans, Kim said.
Territorial's loan book totaled $1.3 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.
