Pacific Premier to Buy Independence Bank in California

Pacific Premier Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy Independence Bank in Newport Beach, Calif.

The $2 billion-asset Pacific Premier will pay $71.5 million in cash and stock for the $426 million-asset Independent Bank. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter. Pacific Premier said in a press release Wednesday that the deal should be immediately accretive to earnings per share and that any tangible book value dilution should be earned back in roughly three years.

Independence has $341 million in loans, $358 million in deposits and six branches. Pacific Premier said it will close two branches, located in Newport Beach and Fountain Valley, as part of the integration.

"This is an attractive opportunity for us to acquire a high quality commercial banking franchise in our backyard," Steven Gardner, Pacific Premier's president and chief executive, said in the release. "This acquisition represents an important element of our strategic growth plan and provides us with meaningful operational scale in our core markets."

D.A. Davidson and Holland & Knight advised Pacific Premier. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Stinson Leonard Street advised Independence.

Separately, Pacific Premier reported that its third-quarter earnings jumped 78% from a year earlier, to $5.5 million. Last year's results included a number of merger-related charges.

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