PacWest Bancorp

PacWest Bancorp

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Banking
Founded	October 1999 (1999-10)
Headquarters	Beverly Hills, California , United States
Area served	United States
Products	Retail banking, commercial banking, mortgage lending, venture debt
Number of employees	2200+
Parent	Banc of California

PacWest Bancorp is a U.S.-based bank holding company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. It operates through its sole wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank, which maintains 69 branches mainly throughout California, along with additional offices in Denver, Colorado, and Durham, North Carolina. The bank’s presence is further supported by numerous loan production offices scattered across the country. PacWest Bancorp functions as a subsidiary under the umbrella of Banc of California.

In 2023, the company was ranked 1972 on the Forbes Global 2000 list.

History

Originally established in October 1999 under the name First Community Bancorp, PacWest grew by acquiring several institutions, including Capital Bank of North County and Upland Bank in 2002, followed by the $238 million acquisition of Foothill Independent Bancorp in 2005. By 2006, it consolidated its banking operations into Pacific Western Bank and, after reincorporating in Delaware, rebranded itself as PacWest Bancorp in 2008.

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, PacWest expanded by acquiring deposits and assets from failed banks such as Security Pacific Bank (2008), Affinity Bank (2009), and Los Padres Bank (2010).

The company diversified its portfolio significantly with a $2.29 billion acquisition of CapitalSource in April 2014. This growth continued with the purchase of Square 1 Financial Inc. in October 2015 for $815 million, positioning PacWest as the sixth-largest publicly traded bank within California.

By January 2019, PacWest phased out the CapitalSource and Square 1 brand names. In February 2021, prior to acquiring MUFG Union Bank’s homeowner association services division, it acquired Civic Financial Services, a firm specializing in financing for home flippers.

These targeted acquisitions and expansions have played a pivotal role in strengthening PacWest’s market position and broadening its offerings across retail banking, commercial banking, mortgage lending, and venture debt sectors.

2023 banking crisis and sale of the bank

In February 2023, PacWest announced workforce reductions of approximately 200 employees and temporarily halted new business at its Civic Financial division due to a sharp increase in delinquent loans.

From March through May 2023, the bank’s stock value experienced a steep decline amid deposit withdrawals triggered by customer concerns over potential bank runs. Deposits dropped from $33.9 billion to $28.1 billion during the first quarter of that year.

In May 2023, PacWest divested its Civic Financial subsidiary and sold $2.6 billion worth of real estate construction loans at a $200 million discount to Kennedy Wilson.

June 2023 saw additional asset sales including $1.2 billion in New York City construction loan commitments to Cain International based in London, as well as a $3.54 billion lender finance portfolio transferred to Ares Management.

The bank was ultimately acquired by Banc of California in November 2023. This transaction included a $400 million investment from affiliates of Warburg Pincus and Centerbridge Partners. The merged institution employs more than 2,200 personnel and caters to small and medium-sized enterprises through services such as lending, healthcare and education banking, venture banking, warehouse lending, homeowner association services, and payment processing facilitated by Deepstack Technologies.