SALT LAKE CITY, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Zions Bancorporation
(Nasdaq: ZION) announced today that it will conduct an auction of Employee
Stock Option Appreciation Rights Securities (ESOARS) in conjunction with the
granting of new employee stock options. ESOARS were developed by Zions to
establish a market-based method for valuing employee stock option grants that
complies with the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 123R
(FAS 123R). The SEC Office of the Chief Accountant has informed Zions that
the ESOARS instrument can be used for FAS 123R purposes, and ESOARS were used
in 2007 to estimate the value of Zions' option grant.
"We are pleased to again use ESOARS to determine the value of the grant of
our employee stock options," said W. David Hemingway, executive vice president
at Zions. "We continue to believe that a market-based valuation of employee
stock options is the best way in which to determine the value of these
options."
The Zions board of directors is expected to approve a grant of employee
stock options on April 24, 2008. Zions plans to offer 180,000 ESOARS units in
connection with this grant. The offering is designed to establish an estimate
of the fair value of the grant of options that can then be used to determine
compensation expense. The auction will be held from 4:30 p.m. EDT, on
April 24, 2008 until 12:00 p.m. EDT on April 25, 2008, and will automatically
be extended if any bid that would change the market-clearing price of ESOARS
is received in the final two minutes of the auction.
Additional information about ESOARS can be found at http://www.esoars.com,
by calling 1-800-554-1688 or by sending an e-mail to ESOARS@zionsdirect.com.
The reference options will vest ratably over three years, have an exercise
price equal to the market closing price of Zions' shares of common stock on
April 24, 2008 and will expire on April 23, 2015.
Zions Bancorporation is one of the nation's premier financial services
companies, consisting of a collection of great banks in select high growth
markets. Zions operates its banking businesses under local management teams
and community identities through more than 500 offices in 10 Western and
Southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico,
Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company is a national leader in Small
Business Administration lending and public finance advisory services. In
addition, Zions is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices.
Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at
http://www.zionsbancorporation.com.
SOURCE Zions Bancorporation
Contact: Clark Hinckley, +1-801-524-4787, for Zions Bancorporation