Bank Sale Funds Will Go to Save Tustin Unit

NEWPORT BEACH — West Coast Bancorp, trying to salvage its struggling Sunwest Bank unit, said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its majority interest in its healthy Sacramento bank subsidiary in a deal worth up to $7.5 million in cash and stock.

The holding company is expected to put nearly $4.5 million from the sale of its 94% stake in Sacramento First National Bank into Sunwest Bank, a Tustin bank operating under severe restrictions imposed by federal regulators. Sunwest, with $186.8 million in loans and other assets, lost $9.5 million last year.

West Coast will sell Sacramento First, a three-branch operation with $120 million in assets, to Business & Professional Bank in Woodland for $4 million in cash, $2.5 million worth of the buyer’s stock and up to $1 million more in cash, depending on the performance of Sacramento First’s loan portfolio.

West Coast said it hopes to complete the transaction, which is subject to approval by state and federal regulators and by shareholders of both banks, by the end of the year.