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Upstart Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., is embarking on an ambitious branch expansion plan to go along with is acquisition of a Seattle-area bank.
June 6
Ambitious Opus Bank announced Monday that it has signed lease agreements to open five new branches in California and Washington.
The $2.2 billion-asset company said the new branches would be in Danville, Del Mar, Laguna Niguel, Long Beach in California and in Kirkland, Wash. The Long Beach branch is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter and the others are expected to open in the first quarter of 2012.
Opus, formerly known as Bay Cities National Bank, said in June that it intends to open a number of new branches in its markets by early 2012. It signed seven lease agreements in the second quarter and said in Monday's press release that it has an additional eight branches in the works in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay region and around Seattle and the Puget Sound.
The company, which raised $460 million in 2010, has also been a busy acquirer. In July, Opus acquired the $1.5 billion-asset Cascade Financial Corp. in Everett, Wash. In June, it also announced it would acquire RMG Capital Corp., the parent company of the $640.3 million-asset Fullerton Community Bank in California.
