Fresh from IPO, Vegas bank plans acquisition

Kevin Rademacher

Monday, May 23, 2005 | 10:43 a.m.

Less than six months after its initial public stock offering, Las Vegas-based Community Bancorp has announced that it will acquire Henderson-based Bank of Commerce for about $40 million.

The cash-and-stock purchase is expected to be completed by as early as September, and it will give Community Bancorp nine Las Vegas-area branches and about $800 million in assets.

"Our strategic plan called for expansion, either naturally or through acquisition," Community Bancorp Chief Executive Ed Jamison said this morning. "This was our first opportunity."

In the merger, the three Bank of Commerce branches will be converted to Community Bank of Nevada branches. The assets of those branches total about $170 million, Jamison said.

Jamison also said that Community Bancorp expects to announce this month plans to build a new Las Vegas-area branch.

Bank of Commerce Chief Executive Richard Robinson is expected to join Community Bancorp with the close of the acquisition, Jamison said.

"He will stay with our team," Jamison said. "We are trying to integrate everyone (from Bank of Commerce). We are not just looking at the brick and mortar, but what's inside."

The merger must be approved by Bank of Commerce shareholders and regulatory agencies.

The deal also continues a busy run for the local banking industry.

Community Bancorp opened trading on Dec. 16 at $30 a share. It was trading at $26.82 this morning, up 23 cents from Friday's close. Shares have traded as high as $33.

The company's stock offering came just months after Valley Bancorp went public. Valley opened trading on Sept. 23 at $23.50, and was trading at $30.69 this morning, up 10 cents. The shares have traded as high as $45.

In April, Las Vegas-based Western Alliance Bancorporation -- parent company of BankWest of Nevada -- filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public stock offering.