PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), parent company of Sovereign Bank ("Bank"),
announced today preliminary election results for holders of Waypoint Financial
Corp. ("Waypoint") common stock in connection with Sovereign's acquisition of
Waypoint, which was completed on Friday, January 21, 2005.
Waypoint shareholders were given the option to elect to receive cash,
shares of Sovereign common stock or a combination of cash and shares of
Sovereign stock. Holders of 92.57% of the outstanding shares of Waypoint
common stock made valid elections prior to the election deadline. Preliminary
election results indicate that holders of 71.14% of Waypoint's outstanding
shares elected to receive Sovereign common stock, holders of 21.13% elected to
receive cash, and holders of .29% elected no preference. These preliminary
results are subject to final revision and tabulation by the exchange agent for
the transaction.
Outstanding shares of Waypoint common stock for which no election was
received before the election deadline will be exchanged for cash, at the rate
of $28.00 per share, in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement and
as described in the Proxy Statement/Prospectus. Another mailing will be made
requesting Waypoint shareholders who did not make an election to present their
stock certificates in order to receive the merger consideration.
Under the terms of the Merger Agreement and as described in the Proxy
Statement/Prospectus, 30% of the outstanding shares of Waypoint common stock
will receive cash consideration and 70% will receive consideration in the form
of Sovereign common stock in exchange for shares of Waypoint common stock.
Since more than 70% of the aggregate number of shares of Waypoint common stock
elected to receive Sovereign common stock, a proration factor will be
determined. This proration factor will be communicated in a press release,
along with final election results as soon as they become available, which
Sovereign expects to be no later than Friday, January 28.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent company
of Sovereign Bank, a $58 billion financial institution with more than 650
community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs and approximately 9,500 team
members in the New England and Mid-Atlantic markets. Sovereign offers a broad
array of financial services and products including retail banking, business
and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, trust and wealth
management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in
the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit
http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
SOURCE Sovereign Bancorp, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sovereignbank.com
CONTACT:
FINANCIAL: Jim Hogan, +1-610-320-8496, or
jhogan@sovereignbank.com, or Mark McCollom, +1-610-208-6426, or
mmccollo@sovereignbank.com, or Stacey Weikel, +1-610-208-6112, or
sweikel@sovereignbank.com; or MEDIA: Ed Shultz, +1-610-378-6159,
or eshultz1@sovereignbank.com, all of Sovereign Bancorp
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