has acquired
Cathay General Bancorp and Asia Bancshares enter into definitive agreement for merger
January 21, 2015 / Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY – Cathay General Bancorp (“Cathay”, NASDAQ: CATY), the holding company for Cathay Bank, and Asia Bancshares, Inc. (“Asia Bancshares”), the holding company for Asia Bank, N.A. (“Asia Bank”), announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for the merger of Asia Bancshares into Cathay.
Asia Bancshares operates, through its subsidiary Asia Bank, three branches located in New York and one branch located in Maryland. As of September 30, 2014, Asia Bancshares reported, on a consolidated basis, total assets of $497 million, total loans of $419 million, and total deposits of $418 million.
“This is a merger that will significantly increase our presence in New York City, where we already have total loans of $1.8 billion and nine branches. It also extends our branch network to Rockville, a suburb of Washington D.C.” stated Mr. Dunson K. Cheng, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Cathay. “Asia Bank serves the same targeted customer base as Cathay and shares our same focus on serving our customer’s lending and deposit needs. Asia Bank started business thirty years ago and has a solid core customer base. We believe that we will be able to provide additional products to Asia Bank’s customer base and are especially pleased that Mr. Jentai Tsai has agreed to join Cathay Bank as Chairman of our Advisory Board in the Eastern Region.”
Mr. Jentai Tsai, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Asia Bancshares stated, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement to merge with Cathay Bank and we know that our customers will be well served in the years ahead.”