Union Bank merger going well

The merger of Union Bank of California and Frontier Bank of Washington is going smoothly, according to Union Bank CEO Masashi Oka.

At a meeting Wednesday evening at the Seattle Art Museum, Oka told some 200 attendees, that the acquisition of Union Bank in April was going well  because the two companies shared similar values, traditions, culture and the same priority of putting customers first.

“I’d like to let you know that the integration of the two companies, a very complicated process, is moving along very smoothly largely because of the similarities.,” he said.

Frontier Bank had 47 branches in Washington and 700 employees.   Because Union Bank had only a small presence in Washington (3 banks) and only 3 in Oregon, the merger went smoother than if a Northwest bank or large national bank had been the suitor.  No branches were closed and most employees kept their jobs.

Oka said he was optimistic about the future.   “I believe that hopefully, recovery is on the way. Whether we are in the middle of a real recovery  or not, we’ve been through the worse the recession has thrown at us, and we have remained strong, stable and growing,” he said.

Union Bank, headquartered in California,  is owned by a Japanese holding company and has assets of $1.8 trillion.  Frontier Bank had one branch  in Thurston County at Hawks Prairie.