Hogan Lovells advises Golden Pacific Bancorp on strategic acquisition by Social Finance, Inc.
Washington, D.C. 9 March 2021 – Global law firm Hogan Lovells has advised Golden Pacific Bancorp in a strategic acquisition by Social Finance, Inc. (SoFi), the digital personal finance company. This is the second transaction in which Hogan Lovells counseled a traditional bank in a strategic merger with an established FinTech entity that required both Federal Reserve Board and OCC approval.
SoFi will acquire Golden Pacific Bancorp and its wholly-owned subsidiary Golden Pacific Bank (together, “GPB”). GPB is a Sacramento, CA.-based community bank that is regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and has approximately US$150 million in assets. SoFi will pay US$2.55 in cash for each share of GPB or US$22.3 million in aggregate to acquire GPB to advance SoFi’s effort to become a nationally chartered bank.
The team, led by M&A partner Richard Schaberg and included M&A counsel Sara Lenet and capital markets partner Les Reese, advised on deal structuring and all regulatory considerations and approvals. The merger is expected to close by the end of 2021, and upon completion, GPB will be renamed SoFi Bank, National Association. President and Chief Executive Officer Virginia Varela will continue to lead the GPB community bank business under the direction of Paul Mayer, who will serve as President of SoFi Bank upon regulatory approval.
The acquisition is a step in SoFi's path to obtaining a national bank charter. If successfully granted a national bank charter by the OCC and Federal Reserve in their change of control application, SoFi plans to contribute US$750 million in capital and pursue its national, digital business plan while maintaining GPB’s community bank business and footprint, but not expand the current three branches.
This is the second groundbreaking FinTech transaction Hogan Lovells has advised on in the past year. Previously, the firm represented Radius Bancorp, Inc. on its acquisition by LendingClub Corp., the first significant FinTech M&A in the United States.