Western Bancorp to Buy PNB Financial
Western Bancorp, continuing its bank buying spree, said Wednesday it plans to buy PNB Financial Group Inc. for about $74 million in Western stock.
Western said it will exchange one share of its stock for each share of PNB. The company said it plans to combine PNB’s Pacific National Bank unit with Southern California Bank, a Western unit. Western and PNB are based in Newport Beach.
Western has been one of the more aggressive suitors in the ongoing wave of bank consolidations in California. It has acquired Santa Monica Bank and Southern California Bank, among others. Earlier this year, it announced plans to acquire Bank of Los Angeles and Peninsula Bank of San Diego.
PNB has $267 million in assets and originated about $1.1 billion of mortgage loans in the first nine months of the year. It operates three bank branches and five mortgage lending offices.
Matthew P. Wagner, Western’s president and chief executive, said PNB’s mortgage business will expand Western’s product line. After the completion of the PNB purchase and two other pending acquisitions, Western will have assets of about $3 billion.
“This transaction greatly benefits PNB shareholders as they will now own a more liquid stock in a stronger and faster-growing banking franchise, which is better positioned to take advantage of the vibrant Southern California economy,” Allen C. Barbieri, PNB’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The transaction must be approved by banking regulators and shareholders of both companies.
Western stock fell $2.75 a share to $26.88. PNB shares fell $3 to $24.50.
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Acquisition Spree
Newport Beach-based Western Bancorp, created in 1996 by the merger of Monarch Bancorp and Western Bank, has since acquired or announced plans to acquire six banking firms:
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Date Acquisition 1997 June 4 California Commercial Bankshares Oct. 10 SC Bancorp 1998 Jan. 27 Santa Monica Bank April 18 Bank of Los Angeles * July 24 Bank of San Diego * Oct. 7 PNB Financial Group *
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* Acquisitions announced
Source: Western Bancorp, Bloomberg News
