Irvine-based Commercial Bank of California will merge with Brentwood-based National Bank of California, with CBC being the surviving entity.
The headquarters will be in Irvine, said CBC Chief Executive Ash Patel.
Commercial Bank has one branch in Irvine and another in Brea. National Bank has a location in Costa Mesa and three in L.A.
All branches will remain open under the CBC name after the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first quarter.
The banks already had some connection: Patel is also chairman of National Bank, and both institutions are controlled by Alex Meruelo, who founded the La Pizza Loca restaurant chain.
Meruelo has his Commercial Bank stake through Meruelo Investment Partners, and in December he was part of a group that bought and recapitalized National Bank’s publicly traded parent company, NCAL Bancorp, for $14.7 million.
Patel joined CBC in October 2013 and moved its headquarters to Irvine about a year later.
Commercial Bank had about $320 million in assets and $274 million in deposits as of June 30, both up about $100 million year-over-year. It ranked No. 14 on the Business Journal’s 2014 list of OC-based banks.
National Bank had about $372 million in assets and $336 million in deposits as of June 30.
