Company: MCHB
Filing Date: 2025-07-15
Form Type: S-4/A
Source: 0001140361-25-025920
Chunk: 211

Company: Mechanics Bancorp
Filing Date: 2025-07-15
Form: S-4/A
Chunk 211
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 carefully evaluated the merger agreement, the merger and the other matters contemplated by the merger agreement, as well as the key shareholder voting agreements, registration rights agreement and consulting agreement, in consultation with HomeStreet’s senior management and HomeStreet’s legal counsel and financial advisors, and considered a number of factors, including the following principal factors:

| • | the review undertaken by the HomeStreet board of directors and HomeStreet management with respect to the strategic alternatives available to HomeStreet, including remaining independent or engaging in alternative strategic transactions; |

| • | although the termination of HomeStreet’s transaction with FirstSun was public and HomeStreet had previously canvassed a number of potential purchasers, no potential purchaser other than Mechanics made an actionable offer since the termination of the FirstSun transaction; |

| • | HomeStreet had operated at a loss for the five (5) quarters preceding its entry into the merger agreement and was operating at a loss during the quarter in which it entered into the merger agreement, and did not expect to be profitable until the third or fourth quarter in 2025; |

| • | the business strategy of HomeStreet and its prospects for the future as an independent institution, including the risks inherent in successful execution of its strategic plan and its projected financial results; |

| • | the challenges facing HomeStreet in the current competitive, economic, financial and regulatory climate, including elevated and volatile interest rate levels, evolving trends in technology, increasing competition from other banks and from nonbank institutions, and the potential benefits of aligning HomeStreet with a larger organization; |

| • | the fact that the combined company would be the third largest West Coast and California midcap bank by deposits, including the third largest in both Seattle and San Francisco; |

| • | the fact that the merger would represent the combination of two top-tier core deposit franchises; |

| • | the minimal geographic operating overlap between HomeStreet and Mechanics, which would provide for the expansion of services offered by each of HomeStreet and Mechanics to new geographic markets; |

| • | the customer focused granular deposit relationships, with an emphasis on generating low-cost, core deposits, of each of HomeStreet and Mechanics; |

| • | the well-positioned revenue streams regardless of macro-environment conditions of HomeStreet and Mechanics; |

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| • | the fact that the merger would create a balance sheet with a more neutral interest rate risk profile by combining an asset-sensitive Mechanics with a liability sensitive HomeStreet, a fully marked HomeStreet loan portfolio and strong fee income sources, including