Oct. 20--As it has done 10 times previously since 1992, Ontario-headquartered Citizens Business Bank has grown again by acquiring another institution.

On Friday, Citizens' holding company, CVB Financial Corp., took over the failed Bakersfield-based San Joaquin Bank. The five-branch bank was shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., becoming the 99th U.S. bank closed this year by regulators.

Reached by phone Monday, CVB President and CEO Christopher Myers said Citizens -- already the largest Inland-based bank with $6.5 billion in assets and 46 offices before Friday's deal -- will continue to scout further growth opportunities. For now, it is focused on completing the transition of San Joaquin into Citizens Business branches.

"Right now we're going to have our hands full with this acquisition for the next six months," said Myers, who spent much of the day visiting the company's new Bakersfield branches. "But we will be open to other possibilities going forward if conditions are right."

An FDIC statement said San Joaquin branches reopened Monday morning as branches of Citizens Business Bank, and depositors of San Joaquin Bank automatically became customers of the Ontario-based bank. As of Sept. 29, according to the FDIC, San Joaquin Bank had total assets of $775 million and total deposits of approximately $631 million.

The FDIC and Citizens Business Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $683 million of San Joaquin Bank's assets.

The FDIC estimates that the immediate cost to the federal deposit insurance fund will be $103 million. Citizens Business Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the fund compared to alternatives, the FDIC statement said.

Earlier this month, the California Department of Financial Institutions gave San Joaquin Bank until Oct. 15 to bring its shareholder equity to at least 7 percent of total assets. Also, the Federal Reserve issued a corrective notice ordering the bank to sell shares, find a buyer or otherwise boost its capital.

Myers said CVB submitted its competitive bid to the FDIC for the assets of San Joaquin about a week before Friday's announcement.

"This happened very fast," he said. "We just found out around the middle of last week that we were the winning bidder."

According to data from research firm SNL Financial, CVB prior to last week's deal had made 10 bank acquisitions and one branch purchase since 1992. Two of the acquisitions -- of Mid City Bank in 1993 and Pioneer Bank in 1994 -- were government-assisted.

Michael Natzic, a community banking specialist in the Big Bear Lake office of brokerage firm Stone & Youngberg, called San Joaquin Bank "a nice fit" for CVB. It will allow the company to grow its asset base by 10 percent, at much lower cost and risk than it would have faced without an FDIC deal.

"This makes sense for them," Natzic said. "Citizens had a good presence in Kern County before this, but not a really strong one."

CVB shares gained almost 8 percent on the Nasdaq stock market Monday.

CVB previously had one Bakersfield office; four of the acquired branches are in Bakersfield, with one in Delano. Natzic said he would not be surprised to see other healthy California banks, including Inland-based players, seek mergers and acquisitions with institutions that give them a stronger presence in certain regions.

Reach Lou Hirsh at 951-368-9559 or lhirsh@PE.com

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