Washington Mutual Inc. almost missed out on buying Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc.
Another suitor was in the wings and nearly snatched up the local thrift back in April. That’s when Washington Mutual made an 11th hour bid in which the Seattle-based thrift’s top executive personally intervened.
The result: Washington Mutual’s $983 million offer for Commercial Capital in late April, just two months after officials from the mega thrift told Commercial Capital they weren’t interested in pursuing an acquisition.
The sequence of events on how the Washington Mutual deal came about were outlined in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Who the other suitor was isn’t known.
Some analysts have pointed to Wachovia Corp. Only a few weeks later, in early May, Wachovia said it was buying Oakland’s Golden West Financial Corp. for $25 billion.
Commercial Capital started looking for a buyer in late 2005, according to the filing. The thrift hired representatives from Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC and Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP as advisers.
Executives at Commercial Capital, which is led by Chief Executive Stephen Gordon, felt Wall Street was undervaluing their company amid rising interest rates.
More than a dozen possible buyers were contacted, including Washington Mutual. Gordon and David DiPillo, president and chief operating officer, held initial talks with three undisclosed suitors.
When first contacted in February, Washington Mutual indicated it wasn’t interested.
For more on this story see the July 10 edition of the Business Journal.
