About two years after buying its first and only U.S. bank, the Dutch giant Rabobank is raising its profile here.
The state-chartered $2.5 billion-asset Valley Independent Bank of El Centro, Calif., will be renamed Rabobank — and the company will buy the naming rights to the city-owned Bakersfield Centennial Garden and Convention Center.
The signs on all 25 of the bank’s branches are to read Rabobank by early April, when a national bank charter under that name is expected to be in hand.
The convention center and concert hall are to be renamed Rabobank Arena, Theater, and Convention Center on Feb. 14. (The City Council is expected to approve the agreement Feb. 9.)
The plans were announced Tuesday.
Rabobank acquired Valley’s parent, VIB Corp., in December 2002. R. Daniel Woerner, Valley’s president and chief executive officer, said that Rabobank had always planned to put its name on the bank but took time to reassure customers.
“They wanted to make sure that people understood that there wasn’t going to be a change in the way we deliver service,” Mr. Woerner said.
Valley is primarily an agricultural lender. Its loans have doubled, to $1.9 billion, since Rabobank bought it, and its agricultural portfolio has grown sixfold, to $748 million. Mr. Woerner said that this growth confirms Rabobank’s commitment to California.
He estimated that changing the name on the bank signs, stationery, and automated teller machines would cost $2.5 million. Rabobank is paying roughly that amount for 10 years of naming rights to the convention center.
The center hosts more than 300 concerts and sporting events each year, and the association can help the $500 billion-asset Dutch company build brand recognition here, Mr. Woerner said.
The name will be mentioned in advertisements for events, messages on the scoreboards, and advertisements on the floor.
