In Brief: Shareholder Sues PBOC of Calif. over Deal

LOS ANGELES — PBOC Holdings Inc. is being sued for failing to negotiate a higher sale price in its pending sale to FBOP Corp. of Oak Brook, Ill.

Riviera-Enid LP, a Florida investment group that owns 21,000 PBOC shares, filed suit Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court.

In its complaint, the group alleged: “The amount offered in the proposed transaction is inadequate and has been timed to take advantage of the company’s low stock price.”

FBOP, the $5.4 billion-asset parent of banks in Illinois, Texas, and California, announced last Monday that it was buying $3.3 billion-asset PBOC for $200 million, or $10 a share. PBOC’s People’s Bank of California would be merged into one of FBOP’s California subsidiaries, California National Bank in Los Angeles.

The deal was valued at 1.03 times PBOC’s book value, or $9.71 per share.

FBOP was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

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