CoBiz shareholders OK merger

TULSA — Shareholders of CoBiz Financial Inc. on Thursday approved the company’s merger with Tulsa-based BOK Financial Corp. at a special meeting of shareholders.

The merger was first announced in June. As of June 30, CoBiz had about $3.9 billion in assets, $3 billion in loans and $3.1 billion in deposits. The merger is expected to close on Oct. 1. CoBiz shareholders will receive 0.17 shares of BOK Financial stock and $5.70 cash for each share of CoBiz common stock that they own.

The merger is expected to result in about $44 million of pretax acquisition-related charges for BOK Financial, with about 50 percent expected to be recorded in 2018 and the balance in 2019. After conversion, which is expected in the first quarter of 2019, all banking operations will be conducted under the BOK Financial brand in both Colorado and Arizona.

“The CoBiz acquisition is an important milestone for our company, and we look forward to welcoming CoBiz employees and customers to the BOK Financial family,” BOK Financial CEO Steven G. Bradshaw said. “Over the past several months as we’ve prepared for closing, we’ve been highly impressed by the entire CoBiz team, their can-do attitude, and their enthusiasm about becoming a part of BOK Financial. Now, we can collectively move forward to deliver on the promise of this acquisition.”