FINANCE

Power of the Press: Bank of Newport was supposed to be a tantalizing acquisition for some company, says the Findley Reports banking newsletter, but the bank’s own news release, predicting a federal takeover if it couldn’t raise funds or find a buyer, did it in.

The early August news release caused a run on deposits as customers pulled out $35 million, and federal regulators had to scurry to find a buyer for the bank, according to Findley’s September newsletter.

Regulators seized the bank on Aug. 12 and sold $150 million in deposits and the bank’s five branches to Union Bank for $1.7 million, a price that Findley calls “much higher than expected.”

Union Bank has since closed four branches and is trying to renegotiate a lease on the Laguna Niguel location, which it would like to keep open, said spokeswoman Joanne C. Curran. Union Bank has been able to keep about 85% of the deposits, she said, mainly because the four branches closed are within blocks of existing Union Bank branches.

One branch lease that Union Bank didn’t want to be stuck with, though, was for the Bank of Newport’s main office in Corona del Mar. The rent there, the Findley newsletter says, “could choke a horse.”