BBCN Bancorp, the parent company of BBCN Bank, has bought back an outstanding warrant, held by the US Department of Treasury, for a purchase price of $2.2m.
The firm said that the Warrant was issued on 21 November 2008 by BBCN’s predecessor company, Nara Bancorp, and entitled the Treasury to purchase 521,266 shares of BBCN common stock at a price of $9.64 per share.
BBCN Bancorp president and chief executive officer Alvin Kang said this action underscores its commitment to enhancing long-term shareholder value.
"Following the transformative merger in late 2011, step by step, we continue to progress with positioning BBCN for enduring growth as the leading Korean American bank in the nation," Kang added.
The US financial firm could not reach an agreement with the US Treasury pertaining to the repurchase of the outstanding Center Financial warrant for the purchase of 337,480 shares of the company’s common stock that was issued in connection with the merger, at an exercise price of $12.22 per share.
BBCN Bancorp, which manages $5bn assets as of 30 June 2012, was set up with the integration of Nara Bancorp and Center Financial on 30 November 2011.
BBCN specializes in core business banking products for SMEs and runs 40 branches in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington and Illinois, along with five loan production offices in Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta and Northern California.