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Feather River Bank is going it alone, rejecting an offer a little more than a month ago from the owner of a Placer County bank that would have paid stockholders a 50 percent premium on Feather River's share price at the time.
The bank's holding company, California Independent Bancorp of Yuba City, has made several moves to stay independent lately. It's buying back up to $5 million of its stock through the end of the month, having recently raised $10 million in trust preferred securities.
And two weeks ago it OK'd a shareholders' "poison pill" to discourage any other bank from trying to buy Feather River without negotiating first.
The moves strengthen the bank and its position and fend off potential hostile takeovers, said John Jelavich, president of the holding company and Feather River.
It would've merged with Placer Sierra: At the end of October, California Independent's board of directors rejected an attempt by Placer Sierra Bank's owner to buy Feather River for $30 a share, when Feather River's stock was fetching $20.
That price began climbing with word of the share buyback, even...