IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Ontario-based Citizens Business Bank is making a strong move into Ventura County.
CVB Financial Corp., the bank’s holding company, and County Commerce Bank in Oxnard have merged, according to a statement released Wednesday by both financial institutions.
Under the agreement County Commerce Bank will merge into Citizens Business Bank.
CVB Financial will pay $41.25 million – half in cash, half in CVB Financial stock – for all of County Commerce Bank’s common stock and options.
In exchange, Citizens Business Bank will take over County Commerce’s corporate headquarters/branch office in Oxnard as well as its branches in Westlake Village, Camarillo and Ventura, said Christopher D. Myers, president and chief executive officer of CVB Financial Corp.
Citizens Business Bank recently opened an office in Oxnard and plans to open a branch in Santa Barbara. That means the bank, which is the largest Inland Empire-based financial institution, will have six locations in Ventura and San Bernardino counties bearing its name.
Citizens Business Bank will be worth about $8 billion in assets once the merger is approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the FDIC. That process is expected to be completed during the first quarter or next year, Myers said.
Talks between the two financial institutions began in April, but Myers said he began considering a move into Ventura County about two years ago and that County Commerce Bank was immediately on his radar.
“They’re the bank that I wanted from the start,” Myers said. “They’re a perfect fit for us. We consider ourselves a solid, medium-sized bank and they’re a solid, medium-sized bank. There’s also a lot businesses [in Ventura County] to loan money to, and some good wealth in that market. It’s a good fit.”
Citizens Business Bank will do in Ventura County what it already does in Riverside and San Bernardino counties: specialize in loaning money to small to medium-sized businesses.
“Our business model will be the same in both markets,” Myers said.
