CU Bancorp has received shareholder approval for its merger with downtown L.A. lender 1st Enterprise Bank. The Encino operator of California United Bank received approval from shareholders representing 73.6 percent of outstanding shares at its annual meeting on Friday. Of those shareholders voting, those representing 99.7 percent of outstanding shares were in favor. 1st Enterprise Bank received 99.9 percent approval of those voting on the merger. The all-stock transaction will add four branches to California United’s network and bump up its asset base to about $2.3 billion. California United has locations across the region, including in Valencia, Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles and Irvine. 1st Enterprise branches are in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Irvine and Ontario. The acquisition is expected to close on or about Nov. 30. When the deal closes, shareholders of 1st Enterprise will receive 1.345 shares of CU Bancorp common stock for each share of 1st Enterprise common stock. Shares of CU Bancorp closed down a penny on Monday to $19.50 on the Nasdaq. Based on that price, the deal is worth $26.23 a share, or about $110 million. That is up $7 million since it was first announced in June as California United’s stock has appreciated.
