First Hawaiian merger
gets final OKs

First Hawaiian Inc. said today it now has all the state and federal government approvals it needs for its acquisition of Bank of the West parent BancWest Corp. The new company should start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 2, First Hawaiian said.

While the NYSE has not given formal approval, it has ruled that the new company meets its eligibility requirements, said Walter A. Dods Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of First Hawaiian. The new shares will trade under the symbol BWE, he said.

When the Big Board trading starts, First Hawaiian -- which is traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol FHWN -- will be delisted from Nasdaq. First Hawaiian is issuing 26 million new shares to convey to Banque Nationale de Paris, the parent of the current BancWest Corp., in exchange for its West Coast subsidiary. BancWest and First Hawaiian will merge, with First Hawaiian as the surviving company but under the name BancWest Corp. The new BancWest will be based in Honolulu, with Dods as chairman. BNP will have nine seats on the 20-member board.