Bank investor Carpenter Community BancFund has taken a majority stake in Irvine’s Plaza Bank.
The Irvine-based fund, run by industry consultant Ed Carpenter, said it would invest $15 million into Plaza Bank in exchange for stock and warrants.
Plaza Bank has assets of $74 million as of June 30, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The fund will control the majority of the bank and take three seats on its board.
The deal was made on the condition that strategies be put in place by a new chief executive and president.
Gene Galloway, who worked at a number of California banks including California Federal Bank, part of Golden State Bancorp when it was sold to Citigroup Inc. in 2002, will take his first chief executive job with Plaza Bank.
The bank’s new president, Robert Forsythe, previously worked in small business lending for Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and is waiting for regulatory approval.
Carpenter is best known as an adviser to startup banks through his Carpenter & Co.
He recently started Carpenter Community BancFund as a way to invest in banks.
Carpenter hasn’t outlined his strategy for the fund.
He could be looking to take stakes in banks that are facing increased competition for deposits and a falloff in lending.
Or the fund could seek to combine smaller banks in the hopes of selling them to a bigger company.
