SALT LAKE CITY, Utah and LAGUNA HILLS, California; March 30, 2001 - Zions Bancorporation ("Zions") (Nasdaq: ZION) announced today that it has completed its merger with Eldorado Bancshares, Inc. ("Eldorado") (Nasdaq: ELBI). Eldorado's subsidiaries, Eldorado Bank and Antelope Valley Bank, will be merged into Zions' subsidiary, California Bank and Trust ("CBandT").
Each common share of Eldorado will be exchanged for 0.23 of a share of Zions. Based upon Zions' closing price today of $52.09, each Eldorado share has been converted into $11.98 in value in Zions' stock. Using 2001 IBES cash earnings per share estimates before goodwill amortization for Zions and Eldorado of $3.55 and $1.08, respectively, the merger is expected to be immediately accretive to Zions' cash earnings per share, exclusive of any cost savings.
"We welcome the Eldorado employees and customers to our banking family," said Robert Sarver, president and chief executive officer of California Bank and Trust. "Eldorado significantly expands our Southern California footprint. With the completion of this transaction, our market share of commercial bank deposits in Orange County has doubled to nearly 5 percent, ranking CBandT as the county's fourth largest bank."
Commenting on the transaction, Robert Keller, president and chief executive officer of Eldorado, said, "Because of the common customer service philosophies, this merger really is a win-win for customers and employees. At the same time, our shareholders gain additional liquidity by holding stock in one of the country's finest banking companies."
California Bank and Trust is the sixth-largest commercial bank in the state of California with approximately $8.0 billion in assets and 99 branch offices. Visit the bank's Web site at www.calbanktrust.com.
Zions Bancorporation is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, consisting of a collection of great banks in select high growth markets. Under local management teams and community identities, Zions operates nearly 400 full-service banking offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. In addition, Zions is the only primary dealer in government securities headquartered in the western United States, and is a national leader in SBA lending, public finance advisory services, agricultural finance and electronic bond trading. Through its subsidiary, Digital Signature Trust, the company is a leader in providing trusted Internet identity credentials. Forbes magazine recently named Zions one of America's best big companies. Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at www.zionsbancorporation.com.
Forward-Looking InformationThis news release contains statements regarding the projected performance of Zions and Eldorado. These statements constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Actual results or achievements may differ materially from the projections provided in this release since such projections involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, new operations being delayed or such acquisition or activities being prohibited, competitive pressures among financial institutions increasing significantly, economic conditions, either nationally or locally in areas in which Zions conducts its operations, being less favorable than expected, the cost and effort required to integrate the companies being more difficult than expected, legislation or regulatory changes which adversely affect the ability of the Company to conduct, or the accounting for, business combinations and new operations. Zions disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or developments.