Panhandle State Bank
New name. New owner. And a little bit of a new look.
The Bonners Ferry branch of Panhandle State Bank is now a branch of Columbia Bank, a Tacoma, Washington-based banking system.
Last July, Columbia Banking System, Inc., the parent company of Columbia Bank, announced its agreement to acquire Intermountain Community Bancorp, which is the Sandpoint parent company of Panhandle State Bank.
For the $121.5 million cash and stock purchase price, Columbia Bank is merging Intermountain's four divisions and nineteen banking locations in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, including our local Panhandle State Bank branch location here in Bonners Ferry, into Columbia's system. Since July, the two banking companies have been working out the details of the business deal, and meeting regulatory requirements. The deal was officially finalized and announced as effective just this past Saturday, November 1.
With this acquisition, Columbia bank now has over $8 billion in assets, becomes the third largest bank in the state of Washington, and now operates over 150 banking locations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Columbia Bank has long had the goal of expanding throughout the Northwest, including into Idaho. "We are delighted that Intermountain has agreed to join and grow with Columbia by continuing to build on the market share they have already established," said Melanie J. Dressel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia. "We have stated for many years that it has long been our strategy to become the premier Pacific Northwest regional community bank. We have always felt that Idaho was an important part of that strategy and Intermountain, with their statewide presence, provides us with a substantial base to serve the Idaho market. We see this as an exciting opportunity for both companies, our shareholders, and our respective teams of bankers."