(Source: Business Wire)East West Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West Bank, announced today that it has acquired the banking operations of San Francisco, California based United Commercial Bank (UCB) in a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) assisted transaction. Under the terms of the transaction, EastWest will receive $10.4 billion in assets, including $7.7 billion in loans, and assume $9.2 billion in liabilities, including $6.5 billion in deposits of UCB. The FDIC and East West have entered into a loss sharing agreement covering substantially all acquired loans.

This strategically compelling and financially attractive transaction creates the second largest independent bank headquartered in California and the largest bank in the nation focused on serving the Asian American community. East West Bank, now over $19 billion in assets, operates 137 branches worldwide, including 112 branches in California and 21 branches in key markets across the country, including New York, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, and Seattle. East West operates four full-service branches in Greater China, including two branches in Hong Kong, and branches in Shanghai and Shantou. The bank also has representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, and Taipei, Taiwan. The Shanghai, China, subsidiary of United Commercial (UCB-China), was also part of today's transaction. The agreement between the FDIC and East West Bank will not affect the normal business operation of UCB-China. East West Bank will extend support to UCB-China where necessary.

"This is a transformational event for both institutions and represents an exciting growth opportunity for East West," said Dominic Ng, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of East West. "East West and UCB share a rich cultural heritage. For East West, the transaction strengthens our presence in key markets throughout the U.S. and Asia and is another important milestone in realizing our vision to be recognized as the premier bridge between East and West," continued Ng.

East West also announced the completion of a $500 million capital raise through the private placement of 18.2 million shares of common stock, priced at $9.04 per share, equivalent to $165 million and the issuance of 335,047 shares of Mandatory Convertible Cumulative Non-Voting Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C (Series C Preferred Stock) totaling $335 million. The new capital came predominantly from existing shareholders of the company.