Umpqua Said in Talks to Buy Sterling for About $1.8 Billion

Umpqua Holdings Corp., Oregon’s biggest bank, is in advanced talks to buy Sterling Financial Corp., the lender backed by Warburg Pincus LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP, said people with knowledge of the discussions.

The deal may be valued at about $1.8 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the process is private. The talks may still collapse and there’s no guarantee a transaction will occur.