May 18, 1999
Securities and Exchange Commission
Judiciary Plaza
450 Fifth Street, N. W.
Washington, D. C. 20549
Re: Hibernia Corporation
Current Report on Form 8-K
Commission File No. 1-10294
Dear Sirs:
Pursuant to rules and regulations adopted under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended (the "Act"), transmitted hereby for filing, on behalf of
Hibernia Corporation (the "Company"), is a Current Report on Form 8-K.
Pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Act, by copy hereof we are filing with
the New York Stock Exchange, the national securities exchange on which the
Common Stock of the Company is listed and traded, two complete copies, including
exhibits. Pursuant to General Instruction E to Form 8-K, one such complete copy
being filed with the Exchange has been manually signed on behalf of the Company.
Please call the undersigned at (504) 533-2831 if you have any questions
concerning this filing.
Very truly yours,
/s/ Marsha M. Gassan
Marsha M. Gassan
MMG/mch
Enclosure
cc: John Kiesel
Mark A. Fullmer
Troy Hester
<PAGE>
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) May 18, 1999
-----------------
May 17, 1999
Hibernia Corporation
(Exact name of issuer as specified in its charter)
Louisiana 1-10294 72-0724532
(State or other (Commission (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of File Number) Identification No.)
organization)
313 Carondelet Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (504) 533-5333
Item 5. Other Events.
On May 17, 1999, Hibernia Corporation announced that it had agreed
to terminate its agreement to merge with First Guaranty Bank (FGB).
Additionally, the lawsuit filed by Hibernia to force FBG to comply with the
terms of the July 30, 1998 merger agreement signed by the two companies will
be dismissed as part of the agreement.
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit Page
Number Description Number
28.43 News Release issued by the Registrant
on May 17, 1999 4
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
HIBERNIA CORPORATION
(Registrant)
Date: May 18, 1999 By: _____________________________
Marsha M. Gassan
Senior Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 28.43
Page 1
HIBERNIA, FIRST GUARANTY TERMINATE MERGER AGREEMENT;
LITIGATION WILL BE DISMISSED
NEW ORLEANS - Hibernia and First Guaranty Bank (FGB) have agreed to
terminate their definitive agreement to merge, the two companies announced
today. The merger deal was called off without holding a shareholders' meeting to
vote on the transaction, because two investment banking firms have indicated
that they are unable to render a fairness opinion at this time. The two had
rendered fairness opinions in January. FGB Chairman Marshall T. Reynolds also
recently declined to pursue discussions regarding a cash offer by Hibernia.
"We're disappointed we could not complete this transaction, but we
believe this is the sensible thing to do," said Hibernia President and CEO
Stephen A. Hansel. "Tangipahoa Parish is an attractive market, so we'll look
for other opportunities to serve it."
A lawsuit brought by Hibernia in September 1998 will be dismissed as
part of the agreement. The lawsuit sought to force FGB to comply with the terms
of the July 30 merger agreement signed by the two companies. Hibernia and FGB
have agreed not to file any future lawsuits against each other in connection
with the proposed merger.
Under settlement of that lawsuit in December, Hibernia and FGB were to
prepare a joint proxy statement, and FGB was to set a date for and hold a
meeting of its shareholders to vote on the merger. If a fairness opinion were
rendered by one of two investment banking firms when the proxy statement was
issued, Reynolds, who owns approximately 32% of FGB's outstanding shares, had
agreed to vote his shares in favor of the merger. Reynolds also had agreed to
recommend that other shareholders vote for the merger. Because the fairness
opinion could not be rendered, Reynolds was not obligated either to vote his
shares for the merger or to recommend that other shareholders do so. Hibernia
concluded it would be impossible to obtain the required two-thirds vote of FGB
shares under those circumstances.
Pro forma for Hibernia's purchase of the $465-million-asset Beaumont
unit of Chase Bank of Texas, N.A., in southeast Texas, Hibernia would be a
$14.7-billion-asset organization with 252 banking locations in 33 Louisiana
parishes and 13 Texas counties. It would be either first, second or third in
deposit share in 31 Louisiana parishes and six Texas counties. Hibernia's
Louisiana markets represent approximately 80% of the state's population and 84%
of its deposits. Its Louisiana deposit share is 21.5%.
The company's common stock (HIB) is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange. Hibernia news releases, product-and-service information and other
useful data can be accessed through the company's Internet site at
www.hibernia.com. Requests for information about Hibernia products and services
can be e-mailed to [email protected].
# # #
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
HIBERNIA'S MERGER ACTIVITY
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25 announced or completed transactions
Pending: 1
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<S> <C> <C> <C>
NAME (expected completion date) LOCATION ASSETS# OFFICES
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chase Bank of Texas, N.A. -- Beaumont operations (2Q
1999) Southeast Texas $465 4
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Completed: 24
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NAME (date merger was completed) LOCATION ASSETS* # OFFICES*
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Service Bank (3/8/99) Northeast Texas $320 9
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Peoples Bank & Trust Co. (7/1/98) Northwest Louisiana $228 9
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First National Bank (Marshall) (3/15/98) Northeast Texas $284 5
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ArgentBank (2/1/98) Southcentral Louisiana $805 18
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First National Bank in Mansfield (1/1/98) Northwest Louisiana $101 5
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OrangeBank (11/7/97) Southeast Texas $118 3
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First National Bank of Paris (8/31/97) Northeast Texas $136 4
Collin County National Bank (8/31/97)
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Texarkana National Bank (12/31/96) Northeast Texas $430 10
St. Bernard Bank and Trust (10/1/96) Suburban New Orleans $244 11
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Calcasieu Marine National Bank (8/26/96) Southwest Louisiana $759 21
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Bunkie Bank & Trust Company (1/15/96) Central Louisiana $106 5
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First National Bank of Lake Providence (1/1/96) Northeast Louisiana $55 2
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Bank of St. John (7/1/95) Southeast Louisiana $116 4
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Progressive Bank and Trust (7/1/95) Southcentral Louisiana $151 6
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State Bank and Trust Company (5/1/95) Southeast Louisiana $96 4
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American Bank (3/1/95) Southeast Louisiana $89 5
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First State Bank and Trust Company (12/31/94) Northshore New Orleans $150 9
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Pioneer Bank and Trust Co. (12/31/94) Northwest Louisiana $357 9
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First National Bank of Jefferson Parish (8/1/94) Suburban New Orleans $373 9
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Southern National Bank at Tallulah (8/1/94) Northeast Louisiana $59 1
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First National Bank of West Monroe (8/1/94) Northeast Louisiana $157 6
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Bastrop National Bank (7/1/94) Northeast Louisiana $117 4
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First Commercial Bank (7/1/94) Southcentral Louisiana $166 8
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TOTAL ADDED SINCE MID-1994 $5,882 171
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</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
LOUISIANA:
added through mergers
since mid-1994
<S> <C>
Assets: $4.1 billion
Offices: 136
Parishes: 21
TEXAS:
added through mergers
since late 1996
Assets: $1.8 billion
Offices: 35
Counties: 13
Dollars in millions.
* At merger. # Dollars in millions.
</TABLE>
