Company: MCHB
Filing Date: 2025-07-03
Form Type: S-4
Source: 0001140361-25-024872
Chunk: 213

Company: Mechanics Bancorp
Filing Date: 2025-07-03
Form: S-4
Chunk 213
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 agreement. Shortly after the execution of the merger agreement, HomeStreet entered into (a) the Ford Entities voting agreement with the Ford Entities and (b) the Rabobank voting agreement with Rabobank. On the morning of March 31, 2025, Mechanics and HomeStreet announced the transaction via a joint news release before the opening of the financial markets in New York. HomeStreet’s Reasons for the Merger; Recommendation of the HomeStreet Board of Directors After careful consideration, the HomeStreet board of directors, at a special meeting held on March 28, 2025, based upon the information provided to the HomeStreet board and upon such other matters as were deemed relevant by the HomeStreet board, unanimously (i) determined that the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby (including, without limitation, the merger, the articles amendment and the share issuance) are fair to and in the best interests of HomeStreet and its shareholders and declared it advisable for HomeStreet to enter into the merger agreement, (ii) adopted and approved the merger agreement, the consulting agreement, the registration rights agreement and the key shareholder voting agreements, and (iii) authorized and approved the execution, delivery and performance of the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the merger. In reaching this decision, the HomeStreet board of directors 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