PacWest Bancorp is a

bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') is often used to refer to these companies as well. United States ...

based in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with one wholly owned banking subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank. It has 69 branches in California, primarily in the southern and central parts of the state, one in Denver, Colorado, one in Durham, North Carolina, and several loan production offices across the country. The company is in the process of being acquired by

Banc of California Banc of California is a bank serving the state of California with over 30 branches in Southern California, extending from San Diego to Santa Barbara. The bank is headquartered in Santa Ana, California in Orange County, with over 600 employees an ...

History

The bank was founded in October 1999 as First Community Bancorp. In March 2002, it acquired Capital Bank of North County. In April 2002, it acquired Upland Bank, with $108 million in assets. In 2005, it acquired

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills o ...

-based Foothill Independent Bancorp for $238 million. In 2006, First Community Bancorp combined the two banks it then owned, Pacific Western National Bank and First National Bank, renaming them the Pacific Western Bank. In 2008, First Community Bancorp reincorporated in Delaware and changed its name to PacWest Bancorp. In the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the bank acquired the assets and deposits of several banks that failed: it acquired

Security Pacific Bank Security Pacific National Bank (SPNB) was a large U.S. bank headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was acquired by Bank of America in 1992. History On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened their first bank branch in Los ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in November 2008, Affinity Bank of

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city on the Southern Coast of California and the county seat of Ventura County. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 census. Ventura is a popular tourist des ...

in August 2009, and Los Padres Bank of Solvang in August 2010. In April 2014, PacWest acquired

CapitalSource CapitalSource is a commercial lender in the United States. It is a division of Pacific Western Bank and provides senior debt loans of $5 million to $100 million to middle-market companies throughout the United States. The company targets specif ...

for around $2.29 billion. In October 2015, the bank acquired Square 1 Financial Inc., the parent company of

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

-based Square 1 Bank with $3.1 billion in assets, for $815 million and became the sixth largest publicly traded bank in California. In January 2019, PacWest retired the CapitalSource and Square 1 Bank brand names. In February 2021, PacWest acquired Civic Financial Services, which mainly provides loans to home flippers. In October 2021, the company acquired the

homeowner association A homeowner association (or homeowners' association, abbreviated HOA, sometimes referred to as a property owners' association or POA), or a homeowner community, is a private association-like entity often formed either ''ipso jure'' in a building ...

services division of

MUFG Union Bank MUFG Union Bank (stylized as UnionBank), is a nationally chartered full-service bank with 398 branches in California, Washington and Oregon which was wholly owned by MUFG Americas Holdings and has been acquired by U.S. Bancorp. Formerly known ...

2023 banking crisis and sale of the bank

PacWest Stock Close Price 2023-03-01 2023-05-08

In February 2023, the company announced 200 layoffs and halted new activity at its Civic Financial division after reporting a significant increase in delinquent loans in that division. Between March and May 2023, the company's stock price plummeted as it reported losses of deposits as its customers feared a

bank run A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe the bank may cease to function in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks no ...

. During the first quarter of 2023, deposits of the bank fell from $33.9 billion to $28.1 billion. In May 2023, the bank sold its Civic Financial subsidiary. Also in May 2023, it sold $2.6 billion worth of real estate construction loans at a $200 million discount to

Kennedy Wilson Kennedy Wilson is a global real estate investment company founded in 1977 and based in Beverly Hills, California, United States. In 1988, CEO and Chairman William J. McMorrow acquired the company. Kennedy Wilson focuses primarily on multifamily an ...

. In June 2023, the bank sold $1.2 billion in construction loan commitments in New York City with an aggregate balance of approximately $500 million to Cain International, based in London. Also in June 2023, the company sold a $3.54 billion lender finance portfolio to

Ares Management Ares Management Corporation is an American global alternative investment manager operating in the credit, private equity and real estate markets. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with additional of ...

. On July 25, 2023, PacWest announced it would be acquired by

and that

Warburg Pincus Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. The firm currently has over ...

and

Centerbridge Partners Centerbridge Partners is a multi-strategy private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and distressed securities. The firm manages over $32 billion of assets

would invest $400 million in the combined company.

References

{{Authority control 1999 establishments in California American companies established in 1999 Banks based in California Banks established in 1999 Companies based in Beverly Hills, California Companies listed on the Nasdaq Holding companies established in 1999 Holding companies of the United States Announced mergers and acquisitions