Umpqua Plans First San Jose Branch

Umpqua Bank will open its first retail branch in San Jose early next year as part of its continued expansion in the Bay Area.

The branch, which will be located in the central business district, will provide community banking, home lending and commercial banking services, Umpqua said Wednesday. The bank, a unit of the $11.5 billion-asset Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) in Portland, Ore., currently has a commercial banking center in San Jose.

Ray Davis, Umpqua's president and chief executive, has repeatedly said that the company wants to grow in the San Francisco Bay Area. Umpqua would double its branch count to 10 around San Francisco and Oakland after it completes its acquisition of Circle Bancorp in Novato, Calif. That deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Earlier this year Umpqua was set to buy American Perspective Bank before it was outbid by PacWest Bancorp (PACW). That deal would have given Umpqua three branches in the San Louis Obispo area, south of San Francisco.

Umpqua has 74 branches in California, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The bulk of those are to the east and north of San Francisco.

Related links:

Umpqua's New Deal in California Makes Up for the One that Got Away

http://www.americanbanker.com/issues/177_169/umpqua-new-deal-makes-up-for-one-that-got-away-1052290-1.html

August 30, 2012