Taichung Commercial Bank Co. in Taipei, Taiwan, said it has agreed to acquire American Continental Bancorp in a bid to enter the U.S. market.
The $26 billion-asset Taichung Commercial said it would pay $82.1 million in cash to buy American Continental and its bank unit. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, Taichung Commercial said in a press release.
Several of the world's largest technology companies are based in Taiwan, and the Biden administration has encouraged them to expand in the United States to bolster domestic chip and semiconductor production. Taichung Commercial seeks to enter the U.S. alongside the anticipated expansion of Taiwanese tech companies here.
"We believe that this transaction will position us well for continued growth," David Jia, president of Taichung Commercial, said in the release.
The $324 million-asset American Continental, based in California's City of Industry near Los Angeles, primarily serves Asian-American communities in California's Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. It has branches in City of Industry, Alhambra, Chino Hills and Arcadia in California. It also has a branch in Bellevue, Washington, and loan production offices in Fremont, California, and Carrollton, Texas.
American Continental had total gross loans of $245.7 million and total deposits of $271.3 million on 30.
"We are excited to be entering the Los Angeles, Washington, and Texas markets and intend to open new branches in the United States," Jia said.
