First PacTrust Raises $51 Million

First PacTrust Bancorp (BANC) in Irvine, Calif., has raised $50.9 million through a common stock offering.

The underwriters of the $2 billion-asset company's public offering bought $4.7 million of stock to the total number of shares sold to 3.9 billion, First PacTrust said Friday. In an offering announced last month, the company sold 2.4 million shares to the public and roughly 1.2 million to institutional investors at $13 a share.

First PacTrust said it will use the money to fund growth, including possible acquisitions.

First PacTrust has announced several capital-raising moves in the past month. It said it planned to raise more than $40 million through an offering of preferred shares paying an 8% interest rate, and, separately, that it would sell eight Southern California branches, along with $477 million in deposits, to AmericanWest bank in Spokane, Wash.