Umpqua Holdings, Sterling Financial Shareholders Approve Merger Deal

(RTTNews) - Umpqua Holdings Corp. (UMPQ) and Sterling Financial Corp. (STSA) announced that their respective shareholders approved the companies' Agreement and Plan of Merger.

Umpqua's shareholders also approved an amendment to Umpqua's articles of incorporation, effective at the closing of the merger, increasing the number of authorized shares of common stock to 400 million.

Completion of the merger, which provides for Sterling to merge into Umpqua, is expected in the second quarter of 2014, pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

On September 11, 2013, Financial holding company Umpqua Holdings agreed to acquire Sterling Financial Corp. in a deal cash and stock valued at about $2.0 billion. Following the closure of the deal, Sterling would operate under the Umpqua Bank name and brand, with existing Umpqua shareholders owning about 51 percent of the combined entity, and Sterling shareholders owning about 49 percent.