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. 

The purchase of AmericanWest Bank by a new holding company closed today.

SKBHC Holdings LLC paid $6.5 million for the Spokane bank and its Utah division, Far West Bank. The group also injected $185 million in capital into AmericanWest, which was reeling from losses on construction and real estate loans.

The seller was AmericanWest Bancorporation.

The new president and chief executive officer of AmericanWest, Scott Kisting, said the institution will intensify its focus on community banking.

“This is the start of a dynamic period of strenghtening relationships with customers and expanding our franchise when possible,” he said.

AmericanWest has 40 branches in Washington and Idaho. Far West has 18 in Utah.

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.”