In August, teams from UNB and BancFirst met at Roscoe Village for several weeks conducting due diligence investigations. UNB tagged St. Louis-based Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. as its financial adviser, and BancFirst hired New York-based Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP as its independent adviser.
"This management team has demonstrated a strong ability to execute," says Stephen Covington, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. Inc. "They’ve compounded earnings per share at 12 percent annually for the last 10 years. From knowing these guys for the past five years, and seeing the way they have integrated the two companies and knowing some of their niche businesses, they’re going to continue to execute."
From Accenture to Mirant to Verizon, newer companies are choosing some creative monikers to enter the market, even making up words or combining them. Such was the case with Unizan.
The name, a combination of United National Bank and First National Bank of Zanesville, was the "most difficult" challenge during the merger, Mann says.
"We looked at thousands of names," Mann says. "Everything was taken because of the dot-com rush. We had attorneys in New York checking this. We also had to check foreign languages to make sure it didn’t mean something nasty.
"We really came just days away from our deadline."
Through an employee contest, a combination of United and Zanesville was suggested to form Unisan, spelled with an "s" instead of a "z." The first spelling, however, was already taken by an IT research lab and two foreign companies.
The name Unizan at first, didn’t test well with consumers, according to the market research.
"It was too different," Mann says. "But it’s not a name you forget. Everybody is a ‘Second National’ or ‘First National.’ We dared to be different, and it’s really worked out well."
