Commerce Security Finishes Acquisition of Eldorado
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TUSTIN — Commerce Security Bancorp Inc. in Irvine has completed its acquisition of Eldorado Bancorp, parent company for one of Orange County’s oldest banks, for $91.7 million in cash.
The 25-year-old Eldorado Bank in Tustin will continue to operate under its own name as a subsidiary of Commerce Security, said Edward J. Carpenter, an Irvine banking consultant who helped to put the deal together. Few layoffs are expected at Eldorado, which operates 12 branches in four counties.
The acquisition--completed Friday--doubles the size of Commerce Security to about $800 million in assets, bringing it closer to the $1-billion to $2-billion size sought by the company’s president, Robert P. Keller, and his investor group, Dartmouth Capital Group in New Hampshire.
Keller, who operated banks in New Hampshire and Arizona, has gained a reputation nationally for building financial institutions and selling them at high premiums.
He also paid a high premium for Eldorado. The purchase price was $23 a share, nearly double the $12.05-a-share equity interest that stockholders had in Eldorado Bancorp.
Adjusting for stock splits and other stock benefits, original shareholders reaped a 23-fold gain, Carpenter said.
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