Valley National Corp., Phoenix, has reversed a decision to sell its Utah and California subsidiaries, mainly because the bank holding company improved its financial condition in the last six months of 1990.
Last June, Valley officials announced they were soliciting offers for Valley Bank & Trust Co. of Utah and California Valley Bank, Fresno, Calif."This is a good opportunity for the bank. It means that our customers will deal with the same people and our employees will be working with the same management team," said Michael Danielson, Valley Bank president and chief executive officer.
"Despite the news of a potential sale, Valley Bank of Utah continued to perform remarkably well and was profitable in 1990. That is a tremendous vote of confidence from those who deal directly with Valley Bank," Danielson said.
When the sale solicitation was announced, Valley National officials said they would sell the subsidiaries only at a price beneficial to Valley National shareholders. "Given the current economic environment, no offers were made that were in the best interest of the corporation or its shareholders," said Richard J. Lehmann, chairman and chief executive officer of Valley National.
"Fortunately, we were never in a must-sell position. In fact, the corporation's financial structure has improved in the last half of 1990," he said.
Now that the matter has been resolved, Danielson said efforts will be spent on improving Valley Bank's profitability to improve Valley National and continue providing high-quality service for the bank's customers.
Valley Bank & Trust was acquired by Valley National in May 1987.