Sound Community Bank buys 3 Columbia Bank branches on peninsula

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of Sound Community Bank, announced this week that the bank has entered into an agreement with Columbia Bank to acquire three branches located on the Olympic Peninsula in Sequim, Port Ludlow and Port Angeles.

May 21, 2014 1:14 pm

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., the parent company of Sound Community Bank, announced this week that the bank has entered into an agreement with Columbia Bank to acquire three branches located on the Olympic Peninsula in Sequim, Port Ludlow and Port Angeles.

The purchase will increase Sound Community Bank’s existing deposit market share in Sequim and Port Angeles and extends the bank’s retail reach into Port Ludlow.

Employees at the locations will become employees of Sound Community Bank, Sound Financial Bancorp officials said earlier this week.

“We are very excited to expand our franchise on the peninsula,” said Laurie Stewart, president and CEO of Sound Community Bank. “The acquisition extends our ability to meet the needs of businesses and individuals throughout the region while continuing our long-term commitment to serving the community.”

Sound Community Bank anticipates receiving about $30 million of deposits and $1 million of loans from the transaction, bank representatives said, and that the bank will pay Columbia Bank a 2.35 percent total deposit premium on the transaction.

“Although we did not seek out this transaction, after careful consideration, we determined that it made sense,” said Melanie Dressel, president and CEO of Columbia Bank and Columbia Banking System, Inc. “Among consideration in this decision was the treatment of our employees and customers going forward. With Sound’s long history on the peninsula, they have a commitment to these communities and a well-known reputation as a good employer.”

Subject to approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, the transaction is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2014.

Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc. was established in 1953 and headquartered in Seattle with full-service branches in Seattle, Tacoma, Mountlake Terrace, Sequim and Port Angeles. Sound Community Bank is a Fannie Mae approved lender and seller/servicer with an additional loan production office in the Madison Park neighborhood of Seattle.

For more information, see www.soundcb.com.