Sterling Financial Corporation - Sterling Finance

Sterling Financial Corporation, d.b.a. Sterling Bank and as Sonoma Bank and Borrego Springs Bank in California (formally d.b.a. Sterling Savings Bank), is a defunct American bank headquartered in Spokane, Washington. The bank's branch network served the U.S. state's of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana. Sterling Bank was the second biggest bank in Washington by total assets in 2013, behind Washington Federal and the bank assets were US$9.94 billion in 2013. Umpqua Holdings Corporation announced in 2013 that it would acquire Sterling Financial Corporation for US$2 billion. All Sterling Bank branches now operate under Umpqua Bank name and brand as of April 18, 2014.

History

Sterling Bank was established on January 1, 1981 as a commercial bank and state chartered bank.

In 2010, Sterling Bank was the first bank to implement SmartSource Intelligence, which has the ability to drastically reduce the cost of managing check scanners used in remote deposit capture. The application tracks the number of devices, the number of documents scanned and exception data remotely without interfering with the software. Later in 2010, Sterling Bank announced that it filed paperwork for a 1-for-66 share consolidation for 4.2 billion shares of its stock. Sterling was facing delisting if its share price stayed below $1 by December 6 of that year. The bank traded on the Nasdaq November 19 at a split-adjusted price.

The name of Sterling Savings Bank was rebranded to Sterling Bank, dropping the word 'savings' in 2012.

In 2013, Umpqua Holdings Corporation announced that it would acquire Sterling Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries for US$2 billion. Sterling Bank had 2,541 full-time employees as of June 30, 2013, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. records, with Umpqua having 2,311 full-time employees. The merge combined a total of 4,852 employees. 11% of Sterling and Umpqua branches were in a 2 mile radius of reach other, with branches closing and 6 branches in Coos County, Oregon being acquired by Banner Bank. The merged company operates under the Umpqua Bank name and brand. Umpqua Chief executive officer Ray Davis will continue to serve as president and CEO, while Sterling chief executive Greg Seibly will join Umpqua Bank as co-president, alongside Umpqua Bank co-president Cort O'Haver.

All Sterling Bank branches were rebranded to Umpqua Bank on April 18, 2014.