ShoreBank Pacific acquired

Dave Williams, CEO of ShoreBank Pacific

Ilwaco, Wash.-based ShoreBank Pacific (SBP) was owned by the same holding company as ShoreBank. It did not fail, though one day later SBP sent out a press release announcing that it had been acquired by Oakland, Calif.-based OneCalifornia Bank.

 

"If the FDIC closes one bank under a holding company, they usually close all assuming that they are run the same way," says Dave Williams, ShoreBank Pacific's CEO. "FDIC realized that we were financially strong and that it would be nonsense to pursue that path." The bank was operating under heightened oversight by state and federal banking regulators, according to reports.

 

SBP is a community development finance institution (CDFI) focused on building sustainable rural communities. OneCalifornia Bank is also a CDFI. It strives to provide   "responsible, affordable financial services to low-wealth communities," particularly those with large Hispanic populations in California cities. The two banks together plan to leverage each other's strengths allowing OneCalifornia to reach markets in Seattle, Spokane and Portland, while SBP's expertise will be used so the new entity can reach largely Hispanic populations in California's Central Valley, Williams says.

 

The new bank will be re-branded in the coming months, though a name has not been determined yet, according to Williams. When it was acquired, SBP had assets of $190 million. Combined, the two banks have assets of about $285 million, but the additional capital from the acquisition will allow them to grow to more than $300 million "in a few months," Williams says.  SBP's nonprofit arm, ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia, will be operating independently and is now known as Enterprise Cascadia, he says.