WASHINGTON & CHARLESTON, W. Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: UBSI) (“United”) announced today that, due to the emerging public health impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the location of United’s special meeting of stockholders to be held on Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (the “Special Meeting”) has been changed and will be held in a virtual meeting format only. The purpose of the Special Meeting is to consider and vote on certain proposals relating to the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of November 17, 2019, by and between United and Carolina Financial Corporation (“Carolina Financial”), pursuant to which Carolina Financial will be merged with and into United (the “Merger”), with United surviving the Merger.
To be admitted to the special meeting at www.meetingcenter.io/270438081, stockholders must enter the control number found on their proxy card previously received. The password for the meeting is UBSI2020. Further information regarding this change to the location of the special meeting can be found in the Notice of Change of Location of Special Meeting of Stockholders filed by United with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2020.
About United
As of December 31, 2019, United had consolidated assets of approximately $19.7 billion. United is the parent company of United Bank, the largest community bank headquartered in the D.C. Metro region. United Bank which comprises 138 full-service banking offices and 15 George Mason Mortgage, LLC locations, is located throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. United’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the quotation symbol “UBSI”.
About Carolina Financial Corporation
Carolina Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: CARO) is the holding company of CresCom Bank, which also owns and operates Atlanta-based Crescent Mortgage Company. As of December 31, 2019, Carolina Financial Corporation had approximately $4.7 billion in total assets and Crescent Mortgage Company was approved to originate loans in 48 states partnering with community banks, credit unions and mortgage brokers.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about (i) the benefits of the Merger between Carolina Financial and United, including future financial and operating results, cost savings enhancements to revenue and accretion to reported earnings that may be realized from the Merger; (ii) United’s and Carolina Financial’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts; and (iii) other statements identified by words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “targets,” “projects,” or words of similar meaning generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the respective managements of United and Carolina Financial and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of United and Carolina Financial. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change. Actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results discussed in these forward-looking statements because of possible uncertainties.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements: (1) the businesses of United and Carolina Financial may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; (2) the expected growth opportunities or cost savings from the Merger may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; (3) deposit attrition, operating costs, customer losses and business disruption following the Merger, including adverse effects on relationships with employees, may be greater than expected; (4) the negative impact on income to United and Carolina Financial and the United States economy resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; (5) the stockholders of United and Carolina Financial may fail to approve the Merger; (6) legislative or regulatory changes, including changes in accounting standards, may adversely affect the businesses in which United and Carolina Financial are engaged; (7) the interest rate environment may further compress margins and adversely affect net interest income; (8) results may be adversely affected by continued diversification of assets and adverse changes to credit quality; (9) competition from other financial services companies in United’s and Carolina Financial’s markets could adversely affect operations; and (10) an economic slowdown could adversely affect credit quality and loan originations. Additional factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in Carolina Financial’s and United’s reports (such as Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov).
United and Carolina Financial caution that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning the proposed transaction or other matters attributable to United or Carolina Financial or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. United and Carolina Financial do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.
Additional Information About the Merger and Where to Find It
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval.
In connection with the proposed transaction, on February 7, 2020, United filed with the SEC an amendment to the registration statement originally filed on January 16, 2020, which includes a prospectus of United and a joint proxy statement of United and Carolina Financial. The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on February 11, 2020 and the joint proxy statement/prospectus has been mailed to United’s and Carolina Financial’s stockholders. Stockholders of United and Carolina Financial and other investors are urged to read the joint proxy statement/prospectus that was included in the registration statement on Form S-4 that United filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the proposed Merger because it contains important information about United, Carolina Financial, the Merger, the persons soliciting proxies in the Merger and their interests in the Merger and related matters. Investors are able to obtain all documents filed with the SEC by United free of charge at the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). In addition, documents filed with the SEC by United will be available free of charge from the Corporate Secretary of United Bankshares, Inc., 514 Market Street, Parkersburg, West Virginia 26101 telephone (304) 424-8800. The joint proxy statement/prospectus and the other documents may also be obtained for free by accessing United’s website at www.ubsi-inc.com under the tab “Investor Relations” and then under the heading “SEC Filings” or by accessing Carolina Financial’s website at www.haveanicebank.com under the tab “Investor Relations” and then under the heading “SEC Filings”. You are urged to read the joint proxy statement/prospectus carefully before making a decision concerning the Merger.
Participants in the Transactions
United, Carolina Financial and their respective directors, executive officers and certain other members of management and employees may be deemed “participants” in the solicitation of proxies from United’s and Carolina Financial’s stockholders in favor of the Merger. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of the United and Carolina Financial stockholders in connection with the proposed Merger are set forth in the joint proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC.
You can find information about the executive officers and directors of United in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 29, 2019. You can find information about Carolina Financial’s executive officers and directors in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 22, 2019. You can obtain free copies of these documents from United, or Carolina Financial using the contact information above.
