LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) ("Preferred"), an independent commercial bank, today announced the signing of a definitive stock purchase agreement whereby Preferred will acquire all of the outstanding shares of United International Bank ("UIB"), headquartered in Flushing, New York.
As of March 31, 2015, UIB had approximately $179 million in total assets, approximately $140 million in total loans, approximately $151 million in total deposits and approximately $20 million in total shareholder's equity. UIB was founded in 2006 and operates out of its full service branch located on Main Street in Flushing, New York. Upon completion of the stock purchase, UIB will be merged into Preferred and UIB's Flushing office will become a full service branch office of Preferred.
Li Yu, Chairman and CEO of Preferred, said, "This transaction provides us a tremendous opportunity to enter this important market. The two banks share a philosophy of high touch service and building franchise value through responsive service and access to decision-makers. This transaction will also allow us to offer UIB's clients a greater suite of products and services and a significantly expanded legal lending limit. We look forward to continuing the strong community banking foundation that UIB has established."
Terms of the Transaction
The aggregate purchase price will be derived from UIB's total shareholder's equity as of five days prior to closing, plus $1.2 million, subject to adjustment as provided in the definitive agreement, to be paid all in cash in exchange for all of the outstanding shares of UIB.
The transaction is subject to approval by banking regulators and certain closing conditions. The boards of directors of Preferred and UIB have each unanimously approved the transaction. All shareholders of UIB have agreed to sell their shares. Approval of the shareholders of Preferred for the transaction is not legally required and will not be solicited. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015 and is not expected to have a material impact on Preferred's 2015 results of operations.
Preferred expects the transaction to be accretive to 2016 earnings per share and to have a minimal dilution to tangible book value at closing, with a very short earnback period.
Advisors
Sandler O'Neill & Partners, LP acted as exclusive financial advisor to Preferred Bank in the transaction. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips acted as Preferred's legal advisor and Schiff Hardin LLP acted as legal advisor to UIB.
About Preferred Bank
Preferred Bank is one of the larger independent commercial banks in California. The bank is chartered by the State of California, and its deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, to the maximum extent permitted by law. The Company conducts its banking business from its main office in Los Angeles, California, and through eleven full-service branch banking offices in Alhambra, Century City, City of Industry, Torrance, Arcadia, Irvine, Diamond Bar, Anaheim, Pico Rivera, Tarzana and San Francisco, California. Preferred Bank offers a broad range of deposit and loan products and services to both commercial and consumer customers. The bank provides personalized deposit services as well as real estate finance, commercial loans and trade finance to small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, professionals and high net worth individuals. Although originally founded as a Chinese-American Bank, Preferred Bank now derives most of its customers from the diversified mainstream market but does continue to benefit from the significant migration to California of ethnic Chinese from China and other areas of East Asia.
About United International Bank
United International Bank was organized by a group of senior bankers and successful entrepreneurs and opened for business in 2006 in Flushing, New York, with a focus on serving the banking needs of the growing Asian-American immigrant community in the greater New York City area. UIB is chartered by the State of New York, and its deposits are insured by the FDIC to the maximum extent permitted by law. The Company conducts its banking business from its main office in Flushing, New York. UIB offers a range of deposit and loan products and services to both commercial and consumer customers with a focus on local business owners. These customers often are underserviced by non-community banks for bank financing to support their business growth. To address this issue, UIB has established a "Small and Mid-sized Business Financial Service Center" dedicated to helping local small and mid-sized businesses. The lending professionals in UIB's "Business Banking Department" are experienced in working with business concerns and entrepreneurs for a variety of credit arrangements ranging from import and export trade finance transactions, accounts receivable and inventory financing, revolving working capital lines of credit, to financing for equipment purchases and other capital expenditures. UIB also has special expertise in a variety of mortgage loan products, as well as construction lending, for a broad spectrum of property types and financing arrangements with flexible terms, competitive pricing and fast approvals.