Altabancorp Board Confirms Receipt of Letter From Gunther Family 13D Group

Altabancorp (Nasdaq: ALTA) (the “Company” or “Alta”), the parent company of Altabank, confirmed that its Board of Directors has received a letter (“Letter”) from the designated representatives of the Section 13D group consisting of various Gunther family members and their related entities (“Gunther Family 13D Group”) that was filed as part of the Amendment No. 2 to Schedule 13D on January 14, 2021.

“Our Board takes its fiduciary responsibilities seriously and always welcomes the opportunity to hear from our shareholders and to consider ideas that may drive shareholder value creation,” said Richard Beard, Chair of the Company. “The Board will carefully review and consider the Letter. Members of our Board have had several meetings with the Gunther representatives since their original Schedule 13D filing in an attempt to ascertain the Gunther Family 13D Group’s specific areas of concern with the Company’s strategic plan. Our Board remains open to continuing those discussions with the Gunther representatives. Our Board and management team are committed to creating value for all shareholders, and we will continue to take actions that will enable us to achieve this objective. For several years, mergers and acquisitions have been—and continue to be—part of our strategic plan. Altabank has successfully executed three transactions with assets totaling over $600 million, and our current management team has extensive experience successfully executing M&A transactions with other banks.”

“We appreciate and acknowledge the legacy of the institution, its community bank roots, and our loyal associates, all of which have provided us the foundation to make necessary changes in processes, improve efficiencies, and implement new technology to help position us to become the best bank for your business,” said Len Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “Our core values remain the same, with the addition of ‘Innovation’ and ‘Execution’ as values we need to master to confront the rapidly changing banking environment and advances in technology, making it easier for businesses and individuals to bank remotely and staying competitive with new players in the financial services sector. We have retained a renowned leadership development and culture change management company to help us strengthen and build a unique culture of commitment, accomplishment, and accountability, as we continue to transform Altabank from a local community bank to a regional community bank that caters to small-to-medium sized businesses, their principals, and their employees. We believe this is a market segment that is underserved by both the larger and local community banks. We have made significant investments in technology to improve our clients’ experience and to make it easier for them to do business with us. However, we will always be a high-touch banking platform that offers financial solutions to address our clients’ needs. Lastly, we have aggressively moved from primarily a construction and real estate lender to a more diversified commercial lender with the establishment of three commercial banking centers that offer C&I loans and specialize in business verticals, including homebuilder financing and investor commercial real estate lending.”