IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Opus Bank (“Opus Bank”) (Nasdaq: OPB) announced today that Opus Equity Partners Opportunity Fund I, L.P. (“SBIC Fund”) has received final committee approval for a license from the United States Small Business Administration (the "SBA") to operate as a Small Business Investment Company ("SBIC"). Opus Bank expects that the SBIC license will be issued following final action by the SBA Administrator. The SBIC Fund will be advised by Opus Bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Opus Equity Partners, LLC.
Opus Bank will sponsor the SBIC Fund with an anchor investment of $25 million, and it is anticipated that other investors in the SBIC Fund will primarily include banks seeking CRA investment credit and an alternative investment opportunity. The SBIC Fund managers will include Stephen H. Gordon, Founding Chairman, CEO and President of Opus Bank, Michael Allison, Co-President of Opus Bank, and Dale L. Cheney, President of Opus Bank's Merchant Banking Division.
Stephen H. Gordon, Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Opus Bank stated, “The establishment of this unique bank-sponsored, unleveraged SBIC fund is a meaningful differentiator that will enable Opus Bank to not only commit its balance sheet by providing senior debt solutions but also further address a company’s capital needs by committing equity.” Gordon added, “The growth equity investments that will be made by our principal investment platform will complement Opus Bank’s Merchant Banking, Commercial Banking and Wealth Services Divisions by providing a one-stop capital and advisory solution to both existing and prospective clients of the bank.”
Dale Cheney, President of the Merchant Banking Division continued, “The investment strategy of the SBIC Fund is focused on non-control, growth equity investments in highly profitable lower middle-market companies. While the lower middle-market is the largest segment, it is also the most inefficient when it comes to accessing institutional equity investment and sophisticated solutions. As a principal investor, our SBIC Fund will target this void in the market by partnering with talented management teams to provide the growth equity capital and strategic guidance necessary to unlock value and realize their vision, while not over-leveraging the SBIC Fund’s portfolio companies."
About Opus Bank’s Merchant Banking Division
Opus Bank’s Merchant Banking Division is an integrated principal investing and financial advisory platform that provides a broad range of direct investment and advisory solutions to lower middle-market companies. The Merchant Banking Division includes Opus Equity Partners, LLC, the advisor to the Opus Bank-sponsored private equity SBIC Fund that provides growth capital to successful and dynamic companies in need of a capital solution beyond what is customarily available from traditional bank sources. The Merchant Banking Division also includes both Opus Financial Partners, LLC, Opus Bank’s wholly-owned registered broker-dealer and an investment banking group that provide advisory solutions to lower middle-market companies for mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, growth equity capital, junior and senior debt, recapitalizations and other broad transactional support to assist companies in their business development efforts.
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About Opus Bank
Opus Bank is an FDIC-insured California-chartered commercial bank with $7.5 billion of total assets, $6.1 billion of total loans and $6.2 billion in total deposits, as of June 30, 2016. Opus Bank provides high-value, relationship-based banking products, services, and solutions to its clients through its Retail Bank, Commercial Bank, Merchant Bank, and Correspondent Bank. Opus Bank offers a suite of treasury and cash management and depository solutions and a wide range of loan products, including commercial, healthcare, media and entertainment, corporate finance, multifamily residential, commercial real estate, and structured finance, and is an SBA preferred lender. Opus Bank offers commercial escrow services and facilitates 1031 Exchange transactions through its Escrow and Exchange divisions. Opus Bank provides clients with financial and advisory services related to raising equity capital, targeted acquisition and divestiture strategies, general mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, balance sheet restructuring, valuation, strategy, and performance improvement through its Merchant Banking Division and its broker-dealer subsidiary, Opus Financial Partners, LLC. Opus Bank’s subsidiary, PENSCO Trust Company, is a leading tech-enabled alternative asset IRA custodian with over $12 billion of custodial assets and over 48,000 client accounts, which are comprised of self-directed investors, financial institutions, capital raisers, and financial advisors. Opus Bank operates 56 banking offices, including 32 in California, 21 in the Seattle/Puget Sound region in Washington, two in the Phoenix metropolitan area of Arizona, and one in Portland, Oregon. Opus Bank is an Equal Housing Lender. For additional information about Opus Bank, please visit our website: www.opusbank.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release may include forward-looking statements related to Opus Bank’s plans, beliefs and goals, which involve certain risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information presented in this press release is not a guarantee of future events, and actual events may differ materially from those made in, or suggested by, the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “intend” or “expect” or variations thereon or similar terminology. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Opus undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
