PacWest Bancorp Announces Capital Raise of $50 Million.

- Shares to be issued in direct placement at $18.36 per share - - Warrants to be issued for up to an additional $50 million at $20.20 per share -

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PacWest Bancorp announced that earlier today it entered into agreements with several institutional investors for a direct placement of $50 million of common stock at a price of $18.36 per share, which was the closing price of PacWest's common stock on Monday August 24, 2009. In addition to the issuance of the common shares, PacWest will issue to each investor two warrants exercisable for common shares worth up to an additional $50 million in the aggregate with an exercise price of $20.20 per share, or 110% of the price per share at which the initial $50 million was sold. The Series A warrants expire in six months on February 25, 2010 and the Series B warrants expire in 12 months on August 25, 2010. The common shares sold, the warrants and the shares underlying the warrants are to be issued under PacWest Bancorp's $150 million shelf registration statement.

As previously disclosed, PacWest anticipates that the additional capital from this investment will be used for general corporate purposes and to take advantage of strategic growth opportunities that may arise.

Matt Wagner, CEO of PacWest Bancorp, commented, "We are pleased to be able to raise capital with strong support from institutional investors, at current market prices with warrants at a premium. While our capital levels were very healthy prior to the transaction, we continue to believe that additional capital in the current environment will be particularly valuable as new opportunities arise. There is no guarantee that we will be successful in pursuing such ...