Unizan Financial Corp. Announces Shareholder Approval of the Merger with Huntington Bancshares and Second Quarter Dividend
May 25 2004 - 1:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
Unizan Financial Corp. Announces Shareholder Approval of the Merger
with Huntington Bancshares and Second Quarter Dividend CANTON,
Ohio, May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unizan Financial Corp. ,
today announced that Unizan shareholders approved the merger with
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated . Of the 78.31% of Unizan
shareholders voting, 98.22% voted to approve the merger. On January
27, 2004, Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington and Canton, Ohio-based
Unizan announced the signing of a definitive agreement to merge the
two organizations. Under the terms of the agreement, Unizan
shareholders will receive 1.1424 shares of Huntington common stock,
on a tax-free basis, for each share of Unizan. The merger is
expected to close very early in July 2004, pending customary
regulatory approvals. "This strong shareholder approval of the
merger confirms we have chosen the right partner," said Roger L.
Mann, president and chief executive officer. "Both organizations
view local decision making as key to meeting the needs of our
retail and commercial banking customers, as well as increasing the
support to the communities in which we do business. Unizan
customers will continue to do business with employees they already
know and will benefit from Huntington's expanded expertise, product
offerings, and the convenience of more banking offices and ATMs."
Upon completion of the merger, Huntington will have 366 offices,
724 ATMs and deposits of approximately $20 billion as of December
31, 2003, on a pro forma basis. In Ohio, Huntington would operate
over 200 offices and 400 ATMs, with deposits of approximately $12
billion as of December 31, 2003, on a pro forma basis. Today the
company's board of directors also declared a quarterly cash
dividend of $0.135 per common share payable on June 21, 2004, to
shareholders of record on June 7, 2004. About Unizan Unizan
Financial Corp., a $2.8 billion holding company, is a premier
financial services organization headquartered in Canton, Ohio. The
company operates 43 full-service retail financial centers in five
metropolitan markets in Ohio - Canton, Columbus, Dayton, Newark and
Zanesville. Through Unizan Financial Corp.'s subsidiaries, Unizan
Bank, National Association; Unizan Financial Services Group,
National Association; Unizan Banc Financial Services, Inc.; and
Unizan Financial Advisors, Inc., the company offers its client base
corporate and retail banking, Internet banking and wealth
management products and services. Additionally, the company
operates niche businesses in government guaranteed loan programs
through its business lending centers in Cincinnati, Cleveland,
Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Mt. Arlington, New
Jersey; and Indianapolis, Indiana; as well as aircraft lending
centers in Columbus; Orlando, Florida; and Sacramento, California.
For more information on Unizan Financial Corp. and its
subsidiaries, visit the company on the Web at
http://www.unizan.com/ . About Huntington Huntington Bancshares
Incorporated is a $31 billion regional bank holding company
headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Through its affiliated companies,
Huntington has more than 138 years of serving the financial needs
of its customers. Huntington provides innovative retail and
commercial financial products and services through more than 300
regional banking offices in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and
West Virginia. Huntington also offers retail and commercial
financial services online at http://www.huntington.com/ ; through
its technologically advanced, 24-hour telephone bank; and through
its network of nearly 700 ATMs. Selected financial service
activities are also conducted in other states including: Dealer
Sales offices in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and
Arizona; Private Financial Group offices in Florida; and Mortgage
Banking offices in Florida, Maryland and New Jersey. International
banking services are made available through the headquarters office
in Columbus and additional offices located in the Cayman Islands
and Hong Kong. Additional information about the merger and where to
find it: Huntington and Unizan filed relevant documents concerning
the transaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including a registration statement on Form S-4, which includes a
proxy statement/prospectus. Stockholders will be able to obtain a
free copy of the proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other
filings containing information about Huntington and Unizan, at the
Securities and Exchange Commission's internet site (
http://www.sec.gov/ ). Copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and
the filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that will
be incorporated by reference in the proxy statement/prospectus can
also be obtained, without charge, by directing a request to
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated, Huntington Center, 41 South
High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43287, Attention: Investor Relations,
614-480-4060, or Unizan Financial Corp., 220 Market Avenue South,
Canton, Ohio, 44702, Attn: Media Relations, 330-438-4858.
Stockholders are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus, and
other relevant documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission regarding the proposed transaction, because they contain
important information. The directors and executive officers of
Unizan and other persons may be deemed to be participants in the
solicitation of proxies in respect of the proposed merger.
Information regarding Unizan's directors and executive officers is
available in its annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC by
Unizan on March 12, 2004. Other information regarding the
participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their
direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise,
are contained in the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant
materials filed with the SEC. DATASOURCE: Unizan Financial Corp.
CONTACT: Investors, Roger L. Mann, President and Chief Executive
Officer, +1-330-438-1118, or +1-866-235-7203, or , or Media, Sandy
K. Upperman, Vice President, Corporate Communications,
+1-330-438-4858, or , both of Unizan Financial Corp. Web site:
http://www.unizan.com/ http://www.huntington.com/ Company News
On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/127633.html
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