North Valley Bancorp falls, won't merge with Sterling Financial
Shares of North Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq: NOVB) are falling following news before the start of trading that the bank holding company has decided to cancel its merger with Sterling Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: STSA).
Redding, Calif.-based North Valley Bancorp announced that it has been advised by Sterling Financial that the regulatory approvals required to finalize the merger on or before Nov. 30 have not yet been obtained. In response, North Valley, the holding company for North Valley Bank, said that it decided on Dec. 1 to cancel the merger.
On April 10, Sterling, which operates through its subsidiaries Sterling Savings Bank and Golf Savings Bank, bought North Valley for about $196 million in cash and stock. The definitive agreement stipulated that either bank cancel the deal if it was not completed by Nov. 30.
North Valley Bank has 26 banking offices in northern California.
At 3:53 p.m. ET, shares of North Valley Bancorp (NOVB) had let go $1.07, or 7%, to $13.53. That’s near the 52-week low of $13.50, set on Nov. 21. The 52-week high of $26 was reached on March 14.
