Cal Oaks Bank now California United

T.O.-based bank was bought out last month



David Rainer CEO, Cal United Bank

David Rainer CEO, Cal United Bank

Thousand Oaks-based Cal Oaks State Bank was acquired last month by Encino- based California United Bank.

“We’re excited to expand our presence in such a strategic part of Southern California,” said David Rainer, president and chief executive of California United Bank, making the announcement Jan. 3. “This, we think, is a win-win for their customers and our customers and the community.”

No Cal Oaks official was available for comment.

With the acquisition, California United adds two branches, in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, to its four full-service banks in Los Angeles, Valencia, Gardenia and Encino.

California United also bought Cal Oaks’ loan production center in Northern California.

Several years ago, California United officials identified Cal Oaks, with assets of $127 million, as an acquisition target because of the “excellent location” of its two full-service branches. Rainer said.

“(We have) had our eye on the Conejo Valley as a key strategic region for us,” Rainer said.

Publicly owned California United Bank had $589 million in assets last September. Rainer said he had no projections on current assets.

Although the Ventura County banks will sport a new name out front, Rainer said, customers can expect the high level of customer service inside they’ve always had. California United will also continue Cal Oaks’ track record of community involvement, he said.

California United employees have served on boards of several nonprofits, and the bank has helped raise more than $500,000 over the past four years for the Boys & Girls Club of West Valley through a golf tournament.

“We touch probably 75 organizations a year,” Rainer said.

Rainer said the new California United branches in Ventura County can offer Cal Oaks customers more sophisticated technology and cash management products along with a larger capital base, enabling the bank to make larger loans.

“We can grow with customers, which was a bit of a challenge for them” Rainer said of Cal Oaks.

Bill Watkins, executive director of the Center for Economic Research Forecasting, California Lutheran University’s business school, said the merger of California United with Cal Oaks is unlikely to have any measurable effect on the local economy, although it could affect select businesses.

He said several banks have merged recently, part of the fallout from the financial crisis of September 2008.

“It’s a nationwide phenomenon,” Watkins said.

The financial industry is under reconstruction, but many banks are still in financial trouble.

Last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. closed some 150 banks, he said.

Watkins said federal regulators encourage bank mergers because the institution that emerges generally has a more diverse portfolio and is better capitalized and able to participate in the nation’s economic recovery, primarily through lending.

Also, regulators have fewer institutions to manage.

The new institution, on the other hand, may have less flexible lending criteria, he said.