Hanmi Financial Corporation, the holding company for Hanmi Bank (the “Bank”), announced the Bank has acquired the Commercial Specialty Finance (“CSF”) unit of Irvine, California-based Banc of California. Operating as a division of Banc of California, CSF is among the top-50 U.S. bank leasing franchises, with 2015 origination volume exceeding $170 million. The transaction, which closed on October 27, 2016, expands Hanmi’s C&I originating platform to include commercial leasing to small and mid-sized businesses nationwide.
As part of the transaction, the Bank acquired the CSF portfolio consisting of $209 million of equipment leases diversified across the U.S. with concentrations in California, Georgia and Texas and represented by more than a dozen industries. An additional $25 million of equipment leases should be transferred to Hanmi in three to four weeks. The Bank will retain substantially all existing CSF employees led by a seasoned management team with deep industry relationships and experience. As part of the Bank, the CSF team will continue to operate from their current headquarters located in Irvine, California as Hanmi’s Commercial Equipment Leasing Division. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Hanmi’s earnings per share.
“It gives me great pleasure to welcome the CSF team to the Hanmi family,” stated Mr. C. G. Kum, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hanmi. “This transaction immediately establishes Hanmi as one of the leading providers of small ticket leasing products to businesses on a nationwide basis. CSF’s relationships and strong credit history provide a platform from which we can scale the business in an efficient and profitable manner. In addition, the acquisition of CSF nicely complements our ongoing strategic focus on business banking to diversify the Hanmi loan portfolio.”
CSF originates leases through a national network of vendor and third-party originators. As Hanmi’s Commercial Equipment Leasing Division, it will also market commercial equipment leases internally to Hanmi’s business clients.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Hanmi Financial Corporation owns Hanmi Bank, which serves multi-ethnic communities through its network of 41 full-service branches and 6 loan production offices in California, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Washington and Georgia. Hanmi Bank specializes in real estate, commercial, SBA and trade finance lending to small and middle market businesses.