AmericanWest Bank, based in Spokane, has acquired Southern California-based Security Business Bank, in a deal involving a cash payment of $26 million.

Spokane-based AmericanWest Bank has completed its purchase of Viking Bank, a deal announced earlier this year that will give AmericanWest a larger presence in Puget Sound.

The $7.2 million transaction brings AmericanWest seven new branches.

AmericanWest earlier this year bought Sunrise Bank of Southern California for $18.5 million, and Bank of the Northwest for $17 million.

The purchases have helped AmericanWest expand to 70 branch locations in four states with assets totaling $2.3 billion.

AmericanWest Bank has agreed to buy a Southern California bank for $18.5 million, the Spokane-based institution said today.

Sunrise Bank, with branches in Point Loma, Escondido, Palm Desert and San Diego, has $232 million in assets and $212 million in deposits.

AmericanWest assets total $1.6 billion, deposits $1.4 billion.

Affiliates of Capitol Bancorp Ltd. have agreed to vote their controlling share of Sunrise in favor to the merger, which will pay holders of each Sunrise share $4.31 in cash.

Capitol is also the majority owner of Bank of the Northwest, which AmericanWest agreed to buy last month for $17 million.

Both deals await regulatory approval. 

Patrick Rusnak has been appointed chief financial officer of Sterling Financial Corp.

If regulators approve the appointment, he will succeed Dan Byrne, who has held the position since Sterling was founded in 1983.

Rusnak is the former chief executive officer of AmericanWest Bank, which was taken private in December.

He joined AmericanWest in 2006 as chief operating officer. Previously, he had been COO of Western Sierra Bancorp, executive vice president for finance at Umpqua Holdings, and CFO of Humboldt Bancorp.

Sterling President Greg Seibly noted Rusnak's experience, and central role in the refinancing of AmericanWest.

“His expertise and resolve will benefit Sterling as our comnpany moves forward,” Seibly said.

He also praised Byrne's contributions to Sterling, where he will continue as corporate development executive overseeing the Spokane bank's external growth and development. 

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patricia Williams today authorized the sale of AmericanWest Bank to a holding company that will inject as much as $200 million in new capital into the Spokane-based institution.

The $6.5 million deal between AmericanWest Bancorporation and SKBHC Holdings LLC is expected to close by the end of the year.

SKBHC executives who attended the hearing in Williams’ court said they could not comment on their plans for AmericanWest until the transaction is completed, but praised Chief Executive Officer Pat Rusnak, other senior managers and the board of directors for their determination and “courage” preserving a bank that was nearly out of capital.

AmericanWest operates 58 branches in Washington, Idaho and Utah, and employs 160 in Spokane.

“This is terrific news,” Rusnak said. “Our employees are excited and ready to move the bank forward.”

“We have been interested in the bank because of its mix of dedicated employees, loyal customers and attractive communities,” said SKBHC Chairman Scott Kisting. “Together with those employees, we are about to begin a new chaper in the banks’s life.

“We are very proud to be a part of it.”