Banner Corporation to Acquire Home Federal Bancorp in Deal Valued at $197M

Banner Corporation ("Banner")

, the holding company for Banner Bank and Islanders Bank, and Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. ("Home")

, the holding company for Home Federal Bank, today announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Banner will acquire Home. The combined company will have approximately $5.2 billion in assets and will be the fourth largest Pacific Northwest headquartered bank as ranked by assets. It also will have a top 10 deposit market share position in Washington, Idaho and Oregon with an established platform for growth and continued operational improvement throughout the Pacific Northwest.  "We are excited to have Home Federal Bank join the Banner Bank team," stated Mark Grescovich, Banner's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This combination will help us toward our goal of becoming the community bank of choice in the Pacific Northwest. It significantly improves our market share in the Boise market, which is the 3rd largest metropolitan market in the Pacific Northwest, while also expanding our presence in several key Oregon markets, including Bend/Central Oregon, Eugene, Medford and Grants Pass. The combination of our two organizations provides the opportunity to create tremendous synergies