UCBH Extends Buying Spree

UCBH Holdings Inc., a banking company that serves ethnic Chinese communities in the Northeast and Western U.S., has agreed to buy Summit Bank Corp. for $176 million in cash and stock, giving the San Francisco-based buyer an office in Shanghai as well as locations in Atlanta and Houston.

The holding company for United Commercial Bank said Tuesday that it would issue about 4.8 million shares and pay $87.4 million in cash in the transaction. Details were not disclosed.

The purchase of Atlanta-based Summit “complements our Greater China expansion strategy,” UCBH Chief Executive Thomas Wu said in a statement.

Summit is UCBH’s third acquisition in a year. In November, the company bought Boston-based Asian American Bank & Trust and Seattle-area Pacifica Bancorp Inc. for about $40 million each.

On June 30, Summit had assets of $657 million and deposits of $570 million, while UCBH had $8.3 billion in assets, the company said.

Shares of UCBH fell 54 cents, or 3%, to $17.51.

Summit shares rose $6.28, or 39%, to $22.38.