BayCom in Walnut Creek, Calif., has agreed to buy Uniti Financial in Buena Park, Calif.
The $1.5 billion-asset BayCom said in a press release Monday that it will pay $63.9 million in cash and stock for the $343 million-asset Uniti. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, priced Uniti at 137.2% of its tangible book value.
Uniti, which serves the Korean-American community in Southern California, has three branches, $262 million in loans and $295 million in deposits.
BayCom said it expects the deal to be accretive to earnings in the first year, excluding merger-related expenses. It should take less than three years for BayCom to earn back any dilution to its tangible book value.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to achieve scale in Southern California while setting the stage for taking advantage of additional partner opportunities available in the marketplace,” George Guarini, BayCom’s president and CEO, said in the release.
BayCom has a history of buying banks that focus on ethnic groups. It has bought Global Trust Bank, which served Indian-Americans, and Plaza Bank, which counted Latinos among its clients.
BayCom was advised by Freedman, Taff & Tiernan, while Vining Sparks issued a fairness opinion. Uniti was advised by FIG Partners and Young Park.
