American Riviera Bank merges with The Bank of Santa Barbara
American Riviera Bank completed its previously announced merger with The Bank of Santa Barbara.
The merger, first announced on July 15, was approved by shareholders of American Riviera Bank and The Bank of Santa Barbara and received required regulatory approvals. American Riviera Bank had $227 million in assets and The Bank of Santa Barbara had $182 million in assets as of Sept. 30.
In the transaction finalized on Jan. 1, each share of The Bank of Santa Barbara common stock was converted into the right to receive 0.8546 shares of American Riviera Bank common stock. Based on the closing price of American Riviera Bank’s common stock on Dec. 31 of $11.30 per share, The Bank of Santa Barbara common shareholders’ compensation is approximately $17.9 million.
Former holders of The Bank of Santa Barbara common stock, as a group, received shares of American Riviera Bank common stock in the transaction constituting approximately 37 percent of the outstanding shares of American Riviera Bank common stock immediately after the close of the merger.
The combined bank will have a legal lending limit of approximately $10 million, a Tier 1 capital ratio of around 9 percent and a risk-based capital ratio of about 12 percent.
The next tri-county deal expected to close is Citizen Business Bank’s acquisition of County Commerce Bank in February. Industry experts anticipate more banking consolidation throughout the region in 2016.
As for American Riviera, it might expand to Carpinteria or the Santa Ynez Valley, the bank’s chief operating officer, Joanne Funari, previously told the Business Times.
• Contact Alex Kacik at [email protected].
