PFF bank's parent company announces shareholder meeting date

     PFF Bancorp, the financial parent of PFF Bank & Trust, announced on Wednesday that its shareholder meeting will be held on Sept. 25 at 9:30 a.m. at the company's headquarters on 9337 Milliken Ave.

     Votes will be tallied for the proposed merger between PFF and FBOP Corp., an Illinois-based company which owns several banks throughout the country.

     If shareholders approve the acquisition, PFF banks will become Cal National Bank institutions.

     With its common stock -- along with special series shares that PFF issued to FBOP through an agreement -- FBOP controls 28 percent voting power and will vote "yes" on the merger.

     Collectively, PFF's board members and certain executive officers hold almost 3 percent voting power and will also vote "yes" on the merger.

     If the merger is approved, stockholders will pocket $1.35 per share. For some, it's a huge loss, but other investors bought PFF stock when shares hovered around $1.

     While customers collectively pulled out almost $600 million between March and June, multiple law suits were filed against PFF over the last couple of months.

     Plaintiffs claim PFF executives foresaw huge real estate-related losses and sold their stock, while at the same time investing employees' 401k and stock-option retirement plans into PFF stock and telling shareholders that everything was OK.

     Shareholders lost millions of dollars after shares peaked at almost $40 in mid-2006.

--matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com