Hope Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to buy U & I Financial in Seattle.
The $13.5 billion-asset Hope said in a press release Monday that it will pay $48.8 million in stock for the $255 million-asset parent of UniBank. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
Hope said the acquisition will make it the only Korean-American bank with operations in the Pacific Northwest. It is the first deal for Hope since it was created by last year's merger of BBCN Bancorp and Wilshire Bancorp.
UniBank has four branches, $184 million in loans and $217 million in deposits.
Hope said the deal should be immediately accretive to its tangible book value and earnings.
Hope Bancorp was advised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Morrison & Foerster. U & I Financial was advised by Sandler O'Neill and Miller Nash Graham & Dunn.
