Bay Cities National Bank in Redondo Beach, Calif., said it has investment agreements for $460 million, enough to turn the struggling $273 million-asset bank into a regional institution.
Leading the recapitalization is Stephen H. Gordon, the former chairman and chief executive of Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc., which was sold to Washington Mutual Inc. in 2006 for $1 billion.
Under terms of the deal, Gordon and his group of two dozen investors would buy control of the bank from the company's owners. Gordon would become chief executive and chairman of a new board of directors at what is to be called Opus Bank.
In a press release, Gordon said he plans to expand "Opus Bank, both organically and through acquisitions, from its Bay Cities roots in the South Bay coastal communities of Los Angeles to a strong superregional banking franchise in the western region."
