Filed by TierOne
Corporation
Pursuant to Rule 425
under the Securities Act of 1933 and
deemed filed
pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Subject Company:
TierOne Corporation (Commission File No.: 000-50015)
Forward Looking
Statements
This filing contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including certain plans, expectations, goals, and
projections, and including statements about the benefits of the merger between
CapitalSource and TierOne, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and
uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those contained or implied by
such statements for a variety of factors including: the businesses of CapitalSource and
TierOne may not be integrated successfully or such integration may take longer to
accomplish than expected; disruption from the merger may make it more difficult to
maintain relationships with clients, associates, or suppliers; the required governmental
approvals of the merger may not be obtained or if obtained may not be on the proposed
terms and schedule; TierOnes stockholders may not approve the merger; changes in
economic conditions; movements in interest rates; competitive pressures on product pricing
and services; success and timing of other business strategies; the nature, extent, and
timing of governmental actions and reforms; and extended disruption of vital
infrastructure; and other factors described in CapitalSources 2006 Annual Report on
Form 10-K, TierOnes 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K, and documents subsequently
filed by CapitalSource and TierOne with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All
forward-looking statements are based on information available when the statements are
made. CapitalSource and TierOne are under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any
such obligation to) update or alter their forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.
Additional Information
About the Transaction
CapitalSource intends to file with
the SEC a registration statement that will include the proxy statement/prospectus of
TierOne and other relevant documents to be mailed to security holders in connection with
the proposed transaction. WE URGE INVESTORS TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND ANY
OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT CAPITALSOURCE, TIERONE AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. A definitive proxy
statement will be sent to security holders of TierOne seeking approval of the proposed
transaction. Investors will be able to obtain these materials (when they are available)
and other documents filed with the SEC free of charge at the SECs website,
www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the proxy statement/prospectus (when it becomes
available) may be obtained free of charge by directing a request to CapitalSource Inc.,
4445 Willard Avenue, 12th Floor, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815, Attention: Tony
Skarupa, Vice President, Finance, CapitalSource; or by directing a request to TierOne
Corporation, 1235 N Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508, Attention: Edward J. Swotek, Senior
Vice President, Investor Relations Department.
This document is not a solicitation
of a proxy from any security holder of TierOne or an offer to sell or the solicitation of
an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any
jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No
offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the
requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
TierOne, its directors and executive
officers and certain other persons may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of
proxies in respect of the proposed transaction. Information regarding TierOnes
directors and executive officers is available in the proxy statement filed with the SEC by
TierOne on March 30, 2007. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy
solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security
holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus and other
relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.
The following is a transcript to an
employee call that occurred on May 18, 2007. An audio file of the employee call has been
subsequently made available to employees via TierOnes intranet Website.
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MR. SWOTEK:
Ladies and gentlemen, again, Id like to welcome you to our
conference call this morning here at TierOne Bank. This is Ed Swotek,
Senior Vice-president of TierOne Bank here in Lincoln. Again, we have a
large group of employees here in Lincoln in our conference center room
joining us this morning, as well as all of you from a number of our
offices in loan production offices across the country. We will also be
recording this presentation this morning and will be digitizing that today
so that we can, hopefully, get this same conference call posted on our
Intranet site later this afternoon for those employees who could not join
us on a conference call live this morning. They can join us at their
leisure later on.
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With
that brief introduction, we do have a very special announcement that many of you have
already read about, and to give you a little bit more detail on that special
announcement, its my pleasure to introduce our Chairman and CEO if TierOne Bank,
Mr. Gil Lundstrom.
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Thank you, Ed, very much. Its certainly our opportunity. I have been
relying upon you for over 12 years as weve worked together for this
organization. And its our pleasure now to talk to you about a
special announcement.
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Were
all have been together as TierOne Bank. Were employed by TierOne Bank. This
transaction that were talking about today involves TierOne Corporation, the holding
company for TierOne Bank, for TierOne Financial, for TierOne Reinsurance, and for UFARM.
The holding company has found a new merger partner, CapitalSource that youve read
about. CapitalSource is a great lending organization, and they have wanted to partner
with us as a funding source.
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The
reason Ive taken just a moment at the outset to differentiate
between ourselves and the acquisition is, TierOne Bank is a separate entity that we all
work for that you get your checks from. TierOne Banks going to continue. TierOne
Banks existence will not change at all. Your support, loyalty, and contributions, I
hope, will not only not change, but will have a bit more of excitement and fever as we go
forward. Thats the important thing that you walk away with today as you hear more
about our new partner that were going to be introducing shortly.
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Understand,
then, that TierOne Bank stays in Lincoln, Nebraska. Understand, TierOne Bank stays
TierOne Bank. Understand that TierOne Bank with its network of 69 offices and things will
probably grow. So, if youre in the retail side, pretend on youre going
to be growing. Youre going to have a lot of excitement. Monte and people are
excited. Hes going to have a bigger marketing budget than hes ever had
before. (Laughter.) He loves to spend money. You know what I mean?
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And
the regional managers, youre going to have to draw cards. We may have a new bank in
Chevy Chase, Maryland, because thats where their corporate headquarters are. So,
you can all draw cards as to whos going to be able to be the regional president thats
going to manage that. But thats the type of things were talking about.
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This
is not a Commercial
Fed transaction. These people are brilliant people. Theyre lenders. Theyre a
lending shop. Thats what they do. But they dont know anything about banking.
(Laughter.) They dont have any banking software. They cant even open a
depository account. I mean, theyre bright, but they dont have any regulatory
expertise and they want us for that reason. Jim Lapin stays as the President. I stay as
the Chief Operating or the CEO and all these new titles that hes given me.
Now, Im going to join Johns board in Chevy Chase, Maryland. So, you know, were
going to be moving around a lot more. But the idea is to provide the funding sources and
give him a depository institution, which hes not had, in order to grow a dynamic
organization that John has built over these years.
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Last
night we briefly met with some other people. I couldnt bring you all together. I
apologize, because youve all been great partners and friends for a long time, but
we have to deal with all the other issues last night. We drew a quick analogy and some
people thought it really hit home well. We have our Oracle of Omaha, we call him Warren
Buffett. He runs Berkshire Hathaway. You all have probably been to the Nebraska Furniture
Mart. Buffett owns them. Its still the Nebraska Furniture Mart, but you know now
theres another Furniture Mart in Kansas City, and Mrs. Bs dream has grown so
much bigger than it ever was when she built that organization, as to one of the greatest
in the entire nation as far as a company.
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Also,
you can go to Borsheims, if youre foolish enough to go in there with your
spouse. (Laughter.) It may cost you some money. Its the same deal. It is Borsheim.
Ike Friedmans company is much better and stronger today than it ever was under Ikes
vision.
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This
is what we envision here, that TierOne stays TierOne and it goes the same way. The name
is the same. Its only difference is the top. We are owned right now by over
60-some percent of the stock of TierOne is owned by institutional investors. Were
going to have one institutional investor when we get done. That is the biggest change youre
going to see. Were not going to be a public company. So that entity will disappear,
but that entity was the parent umbrella that held all the other entities underneath it.
Those entities are going to continue. Your paycheck will continue from the TierOne Bank.
To the customer, it should not change at all. We have to keep those customers, each one
of you that interact with those customers, make sure they understand. The bank is the
bank, and the bank stays. This is not a Bank of the West transaction. This is not a Wells
Fargo transaction. This is not a US Bank transaction. They have no synergies. They cannot
merge us into their organization and cost saves. They dont have anybody that knows
what we do. Do your job as you have, as weve done together for the last 12, 13
years that weve known each other and this place will be robust and continue to grow
and probably be much bigger and larger, faster than we ever could on the visions and the
plans the we originally set out on. Thats what were asking for.
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Let
me give you a moment. John Delaney founded CapitalSource a few years ago. Hes got a
great story. Hes had a great success and Id like to have you have an
opportunity to meet the man that created CapitalSource. Were fortunate to have him
here today.
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MR. DELANEY:
Thank you, Gil. That was a very nice introduction. And Id say,
before I talk about CapitalSource, which I will for a few minutes, I want
to say two things. First, Im very proud to be here today. And
second, Im very excited to be here today.
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Im
very proud to be here today, because weve spent a lot of time working with Gil and
Jim and the rest of the team in understanding this institution. And as we said in our
press release, this is a first class act. This is a great company and weve had a
lot of opportunity to understand this business, to understand its culture, to understand
its history, to understand how it services its customers, and to understand how it takes
care of its employees. And we like everything weve seen. So Im really proud
that I can be here today and be part of this partnership that were creating, this
transaction that were doing. And I know the rest of the CapitalSource management
team thats been involved in this transaction feels the same way. And I think, over
time, as we all get to know each other, I think well realize we have a lot more in
common than we have in terms of differences. So, Im very proud that CapitalSource
could complete a transaction like we did like we announced today with TierOne.
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And
Im also very excited, because I tend to be a builder of businesses and I see in
TierOne an opportunity for us to work together to build a bigger business. And youve
done a great job building a terrific franchise, and the franchise is strong. The
franchise is vital. But, in partnership with CapitalSource, I think we can make it a
bigger and better institution. We can do more for the customers. We can invest in
branches. We can invest in deposit gathering capabilities and we can invest in credit
capabilities, in terms of providing credit to the customers. So if I was a customer of
TierOne, not that they know this yet, because its our job to explain it to them,
but if I was a customer of TierOne, I would feel if I knew everything, I would
feel really good about whats happening here today. Id feel really good,
because this institution now will invest in more growth, more branches. This institution
will now invest in gathering more deposits and providing more services to its consumers,
and this institution will invest in providing more credit and more services to its
business customers.
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So,
I think this is a very, very good day, indeed, for the customers of TierOne. And what
that means is, its also a very good day for the employees of TierOne, because I
think growth is good. I think building businesses is a good orientation. It excites
people. It energizes people. And I think were utterly committed to building this
business. Were utterly committed to building this business in this market, in this
footprint, and pursuing its natural organic growth strategy. Were utterly committed
to keeping it here in Lincoln, to keeping the TierOne name, and to building a bigger and
better institution, building on all the things youve done and all the great work youve
done and using our capabilities and some of our financial strength to help you build a
bigger business. So, as I said, Im both proud and Im really excited to be
here and to be partnering with Gil, Jim, and the rest of the team, and all of you. And I
think its going to be a lot of fun and Im very excited about it.
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Im
also looking forward to going to some football games, because I understand theres
some good seats that came with the deal also. (Laughter.)
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So,
lets talk a little bit about CapitalSource. CapitalSource is a lending business. As
Gil indicated, were not a banking business. We have no banking activities
whatsoever. I think Gils description of our banking expertise is pretty darn
accurate. I think we know enough to find a good partner and thats about it. Were
lenders. Thats what were good at and weve built a large lending
business across the last several years. It has about $15 billion of assets, so its
a good-sized enterprise. It has about a $5 billion market capitalization as a public
company. Were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Weve got about 550
employees spread out in about 20 offices in the United States, including an office in
London, because we do some activity in Europe.
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But
its all lending and its all middle market lending, which we define as loans
that range from a few million dollars up to a couple hundred million dollars. And its
very focused and were very good at it. And Im very proud of the team weve
built and the way they execute and the performance weve delivered. Like TierOne, weve
been a very high-performing institution and have delivered great returns to our
shareholders and I think have built a terrific business. And thats why this is such
a great fit, because were not in your business. Theres none of the cost
synergies or any of the other kind of painful stuff that occurs when a bank is buying
another bank.
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This
is simply putting together two institutions, and one plus one is going to equal three.
And the reason one plus ones going to equal three, because were more diverse.
And thats a good thing. We have more things to do so as market opportunities
present themselves, or market challenges present themselves, we can naturally grow our
business where the opportunities are and not have to push when its not a good time.
And one plus one equals three, because of the funding synergies between these two
businesses. We dont have deposit-based funding capabilities and with this
acquisition, we obviously do. And guess what, we want to grow them, as I said, which is
why Im excited.
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So
I think this is a terrific marriage. I think, just like the CapitalSource employers are
very proud to partner with TierOne, I think as you get to know CapitalSource, youll
be proud to partner with CapitalSource, because I think we share a lot of the same
values, a lot of the same approach to how we do business and the orientation in terms of
taking care of our customers.
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So
to summarize, Im proud and I know the team members at CapitalSource are proud. Were
really excited, because we think this institution is going to be able to play offense
better you know, back to the football analogy than it has in the past,
because theres more we can do, and were very focused and very determined to
help build the business, good for customers, good for employees. And I think
CapitalSource is a great partner for you. And I think as you get to know us better, which
we want to create a lot of opportunities for that to happen across the next several
months. Im very confident youll come to realize that and believe as strongly
about the potential of this partnership or believe as strongly in the potential of
this partnership as I do, as Gil does, as Jim does, as the rest of the Gail and
the rest of the management does.
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So,
with that, should we take some questions, you think?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Lets take just a closure for one other point.
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Last night, the Board met very late into the evening deliberating on
something after 100 years of building this institution. As you know, many
of the directors are very familiar with you and we had unanimous board
approval last night. But Ill tell you, during the deliberations and
the consideration of the transaction, and its a weighty document
when you get all done with all the law firms from New York to Milwaukee to
Washington and everything else. Questions were raised by my directors. And
you should feel good about this. We feel that this is going to be
beneficial to the employees. It wasnt for the shareholders. It wasnt
for other peoples interests. Its we want to protect the
employees. And we feel that this partnership with CapitalSource does that.
This is probably one of the best partnerships could ever be realigned or
realized in connection with a transaction, if were going to continue
to grow faster. And weve been earning 41, 43 million a year record
earnings, but thats been our restricter as to how much faster we can
grow. But during the deliberations as to how we can springboard this
institution to even greater heights than youve already allowed us to
take to date, was, are the employees going to be better off? The answer
is, to everybody in the board during the deliberation is, We really
feel like we have done a good thing for this organization and as it goes
into the second century of its existence, the existence continues and we
feel weve left a very strong partnership that weve now joined
and announced today.
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So,
with that, I think John and I would love to have any questions. Lets clarify them,
stop this you know, the e-mails back and forth and the apprehension that may
happen. Any time you hear the word acquisition, you become apprehensive. This
is a merger of partners and a strength going forward, a partnership that both bring
unique credibility and their own contribution to that partnership.
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We
can also take telephonic questions, is that correct, Ed?
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We
cannot. I'm sorry. Ed says no. (Laughter.)
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Youve
heard Ed speak before.
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MR. DELANEY:
Puts all the more burden on you to ask questions for yourself.
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
We hope weve tried to preemptively ask Roger.
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ROGER:
The question comes up (indiscernible) --
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ROGER:
-- a lot of the employees about the whole timing issue. How long is this going
to take? What happens in the meantime?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
The timing is going to take both shareholder approval They have to
put together a large proxy. Theres a prospectus needs to be filed to
explain this entire thing to shareholders. That needs to be put together. Ill
probably take months to get that put together and approved. Also we have
to have regulatory approval. John and I have already jointly been to the
national office in Washington with the OTS. Ive also just talked to
again this morning to Fred Castillo, your Regional Director. Theyre
embracing this. As you know, the OTS has a limited number of people that
they are regulating and they embrace an opportunity to see some vibrant
growth come in to their organization where we can see the business plan
that has already been suggested and shared with them. Theyre very
excited about this. But there are some issues were going to have to
work through. But, as you know, weve always worked through in the
past and I fully feel comfortable and confident that were going to
be able to get this approved. I think the shareholders Youll
see the stock is already being well accepted. Its jumped drastically
already this morning. And the regulators, I believe, are very receptive to
the business plans weve already shared with them.
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MR. DELANEY:
Yeah, and in terms of how it will run, we came up with a good expression
when I was in Gails office a few minutes ago and we were admiring
what a nice day it was outside. Its unfortunate that he couldnt
be out playing golf. (Laughter.) But he said he was much happier in here
dealing with this. So we came up with an expression that until the deal
closes, its business as usual, and then after the deal closes, its
business as usual plus. And thats probably the best way I can
describe it, because nothings going to change until the deal closes,
obviously. Nothings really happened until the deal closes. Well
be talking about a lot of things and coming out here and, you know,
strategizing about things well do when were together to make
it better. And then after the deal closes, as I said, business as usual
plus, because its still going to be TierOne. Its still going
to be headquartered in Lincoln. Its still going to be servicing
these markets. But, guess what, were going to actually try to expand
the franchise much more aggressively than it has historically, because
that makes sense for us now together, and expand the capabilities to the
customers. So, I think, you know, under that category, its kind of
all good. So thats would be in terms of how it will go.
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Yes, Steph.
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STEPHANIE
GROSSHAND: As far as our customers, I know my phones going to be ringing. Its
okay just to explain everything to them as youve told us this morning, correct? I
mean, is there anything that
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Stephanies question This is Stephanie Grosshand and Stephs
asking, can we go ahead and explain this to the customers? Absolutely. And
weve tried to give employee announcement. Theres also going to
be a frequently-asked-question distribution to help you a little bit, to
further understand it. I believe some of this has already been loaded on
our website to give you further information. And then there will be
interviews shortly with both the World Herald and the Lincoln
Journal, and I think the American Banker has already called.
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
And so it will get a lot of notoriety very quickly, Stephanie, but I think
its important that you explain the key messages that we are sharing
with you today as to the intent of the partnership that John and I are
creating here.
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UNIDENTIFIED
VOICE: Ive already had a client ask, will we continue to operate as a thrift and
(indiscernible)
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Most assuredly. That thrift charter is a, frankly the best charter. Weve
had opportunities to be a bank and frankly do not want that. The federal
preemption, the ability of unlimited branching without the state
regulatory bodies able to deal with us, and those of you in the loan
production offices know that the State you dont have to
register for licensing and things because of the preemption we have. So, Ive
always felt that was the best charter. Weve looked at it very
carefully, and thats definitely what we want to keep.
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UNIDENTIFIED
VOICE: Any kind of an advertising thats national that we might have seen or anyone
in this area would be aware of that would, maybe we would relate to from CapitalSource?
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MR. DELANEY:
The question was, do we have any national advertising that people might
have seen, and the answer to the question is really no. CapitalSources
business right now is servicing business customers through specialty
lending products. So the kind of things we do is we finance well,
we do commercial real estate lending. We finance leverage buy-outs. We
provide specialty lending to health care providers. Health cares a
big part of what we do. Its about 30 percent of our business.
Probably You know, Im not the most objective person in the
world, but I think were the best health care lender in the country.
So Just like I think TierOne is the best community-based thrift in
the country. (Laughter.)
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So,
its very specialized. And as a result, from an advertising campaign, what you tend
to do is advertise more in what would be considered kind of trade journals or specific
publications that target those markets. And we have generally shied away from what I
would call national brand building, because it really didnt serve much of a purpose
for our customers and its quite expensive.
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TierOnes
marketing strategy is obviously very different, because part of your marketing strategy
is directed at the kind of things we do, but part of your marketing strategy, lets
face it and Im not an expert on the marketing dollars right now, but I bet most of
it is towards the consumer, your customer in the bank branches. And thats, again,
an area of investment for us. So we wont be talking about CapitalSource to these
people. Well be talking about TierOne. And thats where well be
investing the dollars.
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And
so I think Whats really becoming with this partnership is a larger, more
diversified financial institution is being built. And its not unusual for a larger,
diversified financial institution to have different brands. And TierOne will operate
independently. It will be the CapitalSource bank brand and we intend on investing in that
as part of the marketing programs for the business.
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UNIDENTIFIED
VOICE: As TierOne expands, do you expect that to be in similar to our current footprint
or will it be nearer the CapitalSource footprint?
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MR. DELANEY:
You know, I think the national expansion plan for this institution takes
its current marketplace and expands it to adjacent markets that its
in. And thats clearly without having spent a lot of time on thinking
through whats the best expansion strategy. And people like Roger are
in a better position than I am to even answer that. That seems very
natural to me. Theres loan production offices and I know theres
been discussions about expanding branches around those offices, et cetera.
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I
think our answer to that right now is not really well formulated, other than my sense is
theres a very natural, organic expansion opportunity for this institution in
markets it currently serves. And that feels to me more like the low-hanging fruit, as
opposed to new markets. You know, more branches in Omaha, maybe that makes sense. You
know, more branches in Lincoln or other parts of the state or surrounding communities.
Again, dont read anything specifically into that, because we havent done the
work yet, but that just feels to me like a more natural logical expansion plan for this
institution, leveraging its brand and its reputation and the people in this room, than
and the people on the phone, than setting up branches in kind of far-flung places,
which, you know, would be very inefficient in many ways. That doesnt mean we may
not put a TierOne branch in our headquarters in Chevy Chase, just to make the point
(Laughter.), but well justify that in efficiency. But other than that, you know,
that might be it.
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UNIDENTIFIED
VOICE: John, do you anticipate future acquisitions?
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MR. DELANEY:
No, actually, because I think theres a lot of growth associated with
just investing in this institution. I think this is a great institution
with, to some extent, more talent and capacity management talent
and management capacity, than is currently being utilized. Thats
like, at least my initial reaction and what would be the best return on
investment is to invest in growing this institution under Gils
leadership and under the leadership of Jim and the rest of the team, and
everyone else in this room and on the phone in building TierOne as opposed
to buying another institution. I think were going to have very
significant competitive advantages now that were together, that will
I know youve used the word turbo in the past, but
will really turbo-charge this institution. And I think that, to me, feels
like a smarter and actually a less risky proposition.
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I
mean, were very focused on making sure this transaction and this partnership works
from all the kind of things that could go wrong, right? Which is customers not
understanding it and feeling like its not what it really is, because what it really
is is good for them. But theres an opportunity for them to think its not. And
they may naturally think that, because some people are predisposed to think that. And
competitors may tell them that, because its in their interest to tell them that,
even if its not true. So we want to make sure that doesnt happen. We want to
make sure all the good people in this institution feel good about it and are as excited
as they have been and potentially more going forward. And we want to make sure people who
borrow money from the bank feel like, hey, this is net net positive.
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So
Id rather really get that stuff right, and then invest in the business than
distract ourselves with another bank transaction. In fact, you know, as I said, were
builders. This is really the only acquisition weve ever done. And so we want to
make sure we get it right.
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NICKI:
Though the corporation may not acquire another bank, might TierOne Bank continue to look
for other banks or merger partners
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NICKI:
-- as we expand, right?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Were going to be doing it under the, you know, ultimate parent
company umbrella of CapitalSource, Nicki, so were going to have to,
you know, theres a lot of work to do one of these transactions. I
think John and I will attest to that based on how our eyes are a little
baggy tonight, but or this morning, or whatever time it is.
(Laughter.) So, I think Johns pretty much answered the initial
question right now. Obviously, if another Marine Bank transaction comes up
or some easy thing, yes. Theres been other opportunities, but I
think John said it right. Lets get this right first and see what we
can grow from our own synergies that we have together.
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STEPHANIE:
Will the TierOne Charitable Foundation continue to operate as it has in the past?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
That is a The question that Stephanies asking, because she
works very heavily with the Charitable Foundation is, whether or not the
TierOne Charitable Foundation will continue as it has in the past. The
answer is definitely yes. That foundation, as you know, was founded when
we created the initial stock offering with, you know, the shares to $5
million. And that is a separate entity, standing separate, and will
continue to remain in that capacity and continue to give to the people in
this regional market area like we have in the past.
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ROGER:
It has a lot more money today than it had yesterday. (Laughter.)
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
And as of this morning with the partnership of John, the Foundation is
even wealthier than it was. So now, maybe we can even make, you know, pay
some of the grants off weve been waiting for, Roger. So, good.
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UNIDENTIFIED
VOICE: Will, like hiring and everything still be located here? The bank will do all that
itself? It wont be through, like Maryland or anything?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
No. The hiring will be here. They dont know how to interview for
people like you. (Laughter.) And weve found great employees in the
past and I assume once John gets familiar with our people, he will
certainly empower them to continue that practice into the future. Its
a separate entity at the parent company. The only thing thats
disappearing is the holding company, TierOne Corporation. It has no
employees. It has a board of directors. It has people that do a lot of
work as a public company, but the entities that really have the people in
it all continue. And so that organization and the hiring, most likely,
will continue, at least at the regular level.
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MR. DELANEY:
Any other questions?
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MR. LUNDSTROM:
Go forth and spread this message. Its a great message. Its a
great partnership and then I believe we have a meeting scheduled for May 31st,
and Mr. Swotek wants to head back to the mike again. So, John and I will
retire.
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MR. SWOTEK:
Gil, John, thank you very much for sharing your message, this very
exciting message, with all of us this morning. I know that there are many,
many questions that you have and will have over the course of the next few
hours, few days, in the next several weeks. Paula Luther and a number of
us have been actively engaged in trying to get as much information put
together and out to you as quickly as possible. So what I would suggest,
those of you here in the room, there is some information on the back
table. Feel free to take a copy of that. For those of you either on the
phone or listening later on the Intranet, we will be getting as much of
this information posted electronically to all of you very, very quickly.
Our goal is to have this recording on yet this afternoon and then a lot
more information is coming. So take a look at that. I think that will
answer many of your questions. If that doesnt, be sure to let Gil and
Paula and senior management know what your questions are, and well
do the best we can to get those answered for you in as timely a manner as
possible.
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So,
with that, Id like to thank all of you for sharing some time with us this morning
and this is something to get excited about. Thank you very much.
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