The entity’s shares plummeted 52% in the ‘after hours’ and have lost almost 80% of their value since February

MADRID, 4 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The US regional bank Pacific Western Bank (PacWest) has confirmed that it is reviewing “strategic options”, adding that several potential investors have recently shown interest in the bank, whose shares suffered a 52.49% plunge in after-hours trading on Wall Street, after closing the session with a fall of 1.98%.

“The company has recently been approached by a number of potential partners and investors; discussions are ongoing,” the bank confirmed, stressing that it will continue to evaluate all options to maximize shareholder value.

PacWest recalled that, at the beginning of the year, it announced a new strategic plan designed to maximize shareholder value by focusing on strengthening its community bank approach, exiting non-essential products and improving its operational efficiency.

“We have been executing on this strategy and have accelerated many of these targets in response to recent market volatility in the banking industry,” he said.

In this sense, the entity explained that it has explored the sale of strategic assets in order to reinforce its CET1 capital ratio above 10%, compared to 9.21% in the first quarter of 2023.

Likewise, PacWest assured that it has not experienced unusual deposit flows after the sale of First Republic Bank on Monday.

In this sense, he indicated that the main deposits of clients have increased since March 31, 2023, with a total of 28,000 million dollars (25,358 million euros) as of May 2, 2023 with insured deposits for a total of 75 % vs. 71% at the end of the quarter and 73% as of April 24, 2023.

“Our cash and available liquidity remain strong and exceed our uninsured deposits, representing 188% as of May 2, 2023,” the bank reported.