After Mergers, O.C. Execs Build Independent Banks
Spurred by a strong economy, former officials of banks that have been gobbled up by industry consolidation are forming small, new banks, including three in Orange County.
PriVest Bank, headed by officers who formerly ran Eldorado Bank in Tustin, will open Wednesday in Costa Mesa. Eldorado was acquired in June 1997 for $92 million by Commerce Security Bancorp in Huntington Beach, which then folded three other subsidiary banks into Eldorado.
Two other new Orange County banks, Pacific Liberty Bank in Huntington Beach and Pacific Mercantile Bank in Newport Beach, are being organized as well. They also will be run by former executives of Eldorado.
The consolidation trend has reduced the number of independent banks in Orange County from 42 in 1980 to six currently, including PriVest, said J.B. Crowell, a former chairman of Eldorado who is chairman of PriVest.
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