SPOKANE, Wash., Oct. 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northwest Bancorporation, Inc. (OTCBB:NBCT) (the “Company”), the holding company of Inland Northwest Bank (“INB” or the “Bank”), today announced that it completed the acquisition of Fairfield Financial Holdings Corp. (“Fairfield”) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bank of Fairfield, on October 16, 2015. The equity holders of Fairfield are receiving $20.75 million in cash. As of the closing date, the combined entity has approximately $600 million in total assets and expects to operate 15 branches in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Bank of Fairfield’s employees and customers to Inland Northwest Bank,” commented Randall Fewel, President and CEO of the Company. “Fairfield has the same outstanding reputation for delivering great customer service as we pride ourselves on at INB,” Fewel said, “so we expect the cultures to mesh very well.”
Jay Wernz, President and CEO of Fairfield, is expected to join the Boards of Directors of both the Company and INB. “Jay’s expertise in the agriculture sector will be invaluable to INB as we enter this new line of business for us,” Fewel said.
Russell Lee, President and CEO of Inland Northwest Bank, added “The combination of these two great banks will produce a company with the scale and expertise to offer the products and technology customers want today while still providing world-class customer service.”
D.A. Davidson & Co. served as financial advisor and Witherspoon Kelley served as legal counsel to Northwest Bancorporation, Inc. Wedbush Securities, Inc. served as financial advisor and Breyer & Associates PC served as legal counsel to Fairfield Financial Holdings Corp.
About Northwest Bancorporation, Inc.
Northwest Bancorporation, Inc. is the parent company of Inland Northwest Bank, a state-chartered community bank which operates seven branches in Spokane County, Washington, and four branches in Kootenai County, Idaho. INB specializes in meeting the financial needs of individuals and small to medium-sized businesses, including professional corporations, by providing a full line of commercial, retail, mortgage and private banking products and services. More information about INB can be found on its website at www.inb.com.
About Fairfield Financial Holdings Corp.
Fairfield Financial Holdings Corp. was the parent company of Bank of Fairfield, a state-chartered community bank serving its communities through its eight locations in Spokane and the Palouse Region. Since 1908, Bank of Fairfield specialized in working with generations of family farms and the communities they supported by providing full service banking with top quality service.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “target,” “projects,” “outlook,” “forecast,” “will,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “can” and similar references to future periods. Actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements, because such statements are inherently subject to significant assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the Company’s control. These include but are not limited to: the businesses of the Company and Fairfield Financial Holdings Corp. may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; the expected growth opportunities or cost savings from the acquisition may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; operating costs, customer losses and business disruption following the acquisition, including adverse effects on relationships with employees, may be greater than expected; the possibility of adverse economic developments that may, among other things, increase default and delinquency risks in the Company’s loan portfolios; shifts in interest rates; shifts in the rate of inflation; shifts in the demand for the Company’s loan and other products; unforeseen increases in costs and expenses; changes in accounting policies; changes in the monetary and fiscal policies of the federal government; and changes in laws, regulations and the competitive environment. Unless legally required, the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.