| Los Angeles-based Cathay Bank to buy New Jersey equity |
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The holding company for Los Angeles-based Cathay Bank, which mainly focuses its businesses in the Asian American community, will acquire United Heritage Bank for 9.4 million dollars in cash, companies announced Tuesday.
"We are pleased to announce our agreement to acquire UHB and expand into New Jersey, where there are many attractive communities, including those with significant numbers of Asian residents and businesses," said Dunson K. Cheng, chairman, president and CEO of Cathay General Bancorp.
New Jersey-based UHB, which was founded in 1997, had total assets of about 60.4 million dollars, loans of 40 million dollars,
deposits of 55.2 million dollars and shareholders equity of about 5 million dollars as of Sept. 30.
"Together with the nine branches that Cathay has in New York City, our new Edison, New Jersey branch will allow us to better serve our target market in the greater New York area," said Cheng.
He added that New Jersey would become the seventh state in the country served by Cathay's branch network, as the bank continues its nationwide expansion strategy through acquisition.
The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2007, after the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary conditions.
Founded in 1962, Cathay Bank opened for business with the mission of providing financial services to the growing but underserved Chinese-American community in the Los Angeles area, and became the first Chinese-American bank in Southern California.
The bank's service network has since then extended to other parts of the United States, and opened offices in Taipei, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the three important commercial centers in the Asian-Pacific Rim. Cathay Bank is currently part of a publicly traded financial institution with stockholder equity of some 902 million dollars.
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