California’s monopoly bank PacWest Corp is in talks to increase liquidity -Source According to Reuters

By Anirban Sen and David French

NEW YORK (Reuters) – PacWest Corp is in talks about increasing liquidity with Atlas (NYSE:) SP Partners and other investment firms, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, in the new case. of a US regional bank explores such an option after the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank.

Sources say PacWest is looking at a range of options to bolster its coffers and there is no certainty that any deal will materialize. The details of the liquidity increase being discussed could not be found out.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Atlas SP and PacWest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of PacWest jumped on the news of talks to boost liquidity, rising 22% to $13.91 in afternoon New York trading on Thursday, giving the bank a market capitalization. about 1.6 billion dollars.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, PacWest is a community bank serving small and venture-backed businesses, primarily in California. It has $41 billion in assets as of earlier this month.

Shares of PacWest fell 60% after a failed fundraising attempt by Silicon Valley Bank last week after some depositors withdrew their funds and prompted the bank to make massive withdrawals.

It’s unclear how much of its deposits PacWest lost during the US regional banking crisis that led to US regulators’ takeover of Silicon Valley Bank and signature bank (NASDAQ:). Bank of the First Republic (NYSE:) sought support from peer-to-peer banks on Thursday to avoid a similar fate.

PacWest CEO Paul Taylor took the helm in January after leading before Opus Bank (NASDAQ:).