First National Bank of Southern California in Riverside and First Mountain Bank (FMBP) in Big Bear Lake, Calif., have terminated their planned merger.
The $135 million-asset First Mountain said in a press release Thursday that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would not approve its sale to First National under the agreement's terms and conditions.
Modifications required by the OCC "would not have provided the benefit to the First Mountain Bank shareholders and community as negotiated in the definitive agreement," the release said. First Mountain did not disclose any specific details on the OCC's objections or recommendations.
"While we regret that the regulators were unwilling to approve this transaction as agreed to by the parties, First Mountain Bank is moving on and looking forward to continuing its operations," Jack Briner, First Mountain Bank's chairman and chief executive, said in the release. First Mountain "posted a profitable first half of 2014 and is currently welcoming new customers and SBA borrowers."
First National agreed in May to pay roughly $14.1 million in cash for First Mountain in a deal that would have nearly doubled its size.
