A Texas billionaire purchased the parent company of San Benito
Bank on Saturday for $500 million.
A Texas billionaire purchased the parent company of San Benito Bank on Saturday for $500 million.
Ford Financial Fund, a private equity firm operated by billionaire Gerald Ford, bought Santa Barbara-based Pacific Capital Bancorp for 20 cents per share, according to Securities Exchange Commission filings released this week and the Wall Street Journal.
Pacific Capital Bancorp has 48 branches – with $7.4 billion in assets – throughout the Central Coast, according to its website. Those include the San Benito Bank branches in Hollister and San Juan Bautista, the South Valley National Bank branch in Gilroy and two South Valley National Bank branches in Morgan Hill.
The acquisition comes after the U.S. Treasury Department invested $181 million in Pacific Capital from its Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, the Wall Street Journal reported April 30.
Current shareholders will be given a right to buy Pacific Capital Stock at 20 cents per share.
