SEC FORM 4

SEC Form 4

FORM 4

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*

THL Equity Advisors VI, LLC

(Last)

(First)

(Middle)

C/O THOMAS H. LEE PARTNERS, L.P.

100 FEDERAL STREET

(Street)

BOSTON

02110

(City)

(State)

(Zip)

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
STERLING FINANCIAL CORP /WA/ [ STSA ]

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

Director	X	10% Owner
Officer (give title below)		Other (specify below)

3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
04/18/2014

4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

X	Form filed by One Reporting Person
	Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price		6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
Common Stock	04/18/2014		J⁽¹⁾		12,948,112⁽²⁾	D	⁽¹⁾	0	I	See Footnotes⁽²⁾⁽⁴⁾

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)		10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
Warrant (right to buy)	$14.52⁽⁵⁾	04/18/2014		J⁽⁶⁾			1,480,119	10/21/2010	08/26/2017	Common Stock	1,480,119⁽³⁾	⁽⁶⁾	0	I	See Footnotes⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾

Explanation of Responses:

1. On April 18, 2014, pursuant to the Merger Agreement (the "Merger Agreement"), dated September 11, 2013, between Sterling Financial Corporation ("Sterling") and Umpqua Holdings Corporation ("Umpqua"), each share of Sterling common stock was converted into the right to receive 1.671 shares of Umpqua common stock and $2.18 in cash (the "Merger Consideration").

2. Represents shares of the Issuer disposed of by the following entities: 7,134,979 shares by Thomas H. Lee Equity Fund VI, L.P. ("Equity"), 4,831,433 shares by Thomas H. Lee Parallel Fund VI, L.P. ("Parallel"), 843,956 shares by Thomas H. Lee Equity Parallel (DT) Fund VI, L.P. ("DT") and 137,744 shares by THL Sterling Equity Investors L.P. ("THL Sterling").

3. Represents warrants of the Issuer owned of by the following entities which were converted in connection with the merger: 815,617 shares by Equity, 552,287 shares by Parallel, 96,473 shares by DT and 15,742 shares by THL Sterling.

4. The Reporting Person is the general partner of Equity, Parallel, DT and THL Sterling. The Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of the securities listed in this report, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that the Reporting Person is the beneficial owner of such securities for the purpose of Section 16 or for any other purpose, except to the extent of its pecuniary interest therein.

5. Exercise price, as adjusted for certain issuances of common stock, stock splits, stock subdivisions, stock reclassifications, stock combinations, other distributions, certain repurchases, business combinations and similar actions.

6. As provided in the Merger Agreement, the Warrant was automatically converted, as of the effective time of the merger, into a warrant exercisable for the Merger Consideration that the Sterling common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrant immediately prior to the effective time would have been entitled to receive upon completion of the merger.

Remarks:

	/s/ Charles P. Holden	04/22/2014
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
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