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Banc of California (BANC) in Irvine has acquired an 8% stake in Clearinghouse CDFI, an institution that serves low- to moderate-income communities in California and Nevada.
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Clearinghouse CDFI in Lake Forest, Calif., has acquired Arizona MultiBank Community Development, a community development financial institution that operates in the Southwestern U.S. and on Native American reservations.
Clearinghouse acquired Arizona MultiBank's assets and loan portfolio for
The acquisition will increase Clearinghouse's assets by about $8 million. Clearinghouse will operate Arizona MultiBank as a division of the institution and retain all its employees.
"We're adding to what they do as opposed to taking it away or changing it completely," Clearinghouse CEO Douglas Bystry said in an interview. Clearinghouse will do "a lot more lending and larger, more impactful loans in Arizona."
The combination of the two institutions is an unusual occurrence in the CDFI field, Bystry said.
"Sometimes it just makes economic sense to have some groups with a shared mission align themselves," Bystry said. "We're not actively looking [to acquire another CDFI], but who knows if this will be something someone else might emulate."
Clearinghouse also plans to increase lending to Native American reservations and other tribal communities in Arizona and New Mexico, and will create a Native American advisory board for the CDFI.
JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles are Clearinghouse's largest shareholders. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Bank of America had been the largest holders of Arizona MultiBank's debt.
Clearinghouse is owned by numerous banks, including Banc of California in Irvine, which
