Puget Sound Bank in Washington to Buy Core Business Bank

Puget Sound Bank (PUGB) in Bellevue, Wash., is buying Core Business Bank.

The $268 million-asset Puget Sound said late Friday that it would pay roughly $8.4 million in cash and stock for Core Business Bank, which is also based in Bellevue and has $64 million in assets.

The company would have a net worth of roughly $44 million and a total risk-based capital ratio of 15% once the deal is completed. The companies expect the complete the transaction in the second quarter. As a result, Puget Sound Bank will have the capacity to lend up to $9 million to individual borrowers, the companies said in a press release.

Puget Sound Bank's growth "has created the platform for an acquisition strategy that has culminated in finding a partner that fits our criteria of a healthy Northwest bank that is focused on" commercial and industrial lending, Jim Mitchell, the bank's chief executive, said in the release.

Monroe Securities and the law firm of Foster Pepper advised Puget Sound Bank in the deal. Core Business Bank was advised by McAdams Wright Ragen and the law firm of Keller Rohrback.

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