NEWS
RELEASE
COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES
445 PINE AVENUE, GOLETA, CA 93117
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LYNDA RADKE, CFO
PHONE: 805-692-1862
FAX: 805-692-5835
URL: HTTP://WWW.COMMUNITYWEST.COM
SYMBOL: CWBC
COMMUNITY WEST BANCSHARES SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT TO SELL PALOMAR
COMMUNITY BANK
Goleta and Escondido, California, September 20, 2000 - Community West Bancshares
(NASDAQ:CWBC) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Palomar Community Bank today
jointly announced the signing of a letter of intent for the sale of Palomar
Community Bank. The transaction would create the only independently-owned
community bank headquartered in Escondido, California.
The letter of intent calls for the Senior Management of Palomar Community Bank,
acting as the agent for a group of investors, to acquire all of the outstanding
stock of Palomar Community Bank in exchange for a combination of debt and cash.
The purchase price is subject to a number of factors but is currently estimated
to be between $10.5 and $11.0 million. Under the terms of the letter of
intent, the parties shall endeavor to execute a definitive agreement on or
before November 30, 2000. Further details of the transaction will be worked out
in, and disclosed upon the execution of, the definitive agreement.
Palomar has been serving Escondido's residents and businesses since 1984. In
1998, they joined forces with Community West Bancshares, in order to expand the
portfolio of loan services available to its customers and to enhance its
technology base. Palomar currently has 25 full-time employees.
Lew Stone, President and CEO of Community West Bancshares commented, "We are
very pleased with this transaction and believe it will benefit both Community
West shareholders as well as the employees, management and customers of Palomar
Community Bank. Proceeds from this sale will allow us to commit significant
additional resources to our subsidiary Goleta National Bank and its high growth
profit centers. The transaction is highly beneficial for both organizations"
"The Board of Directors and management team at Palomar Community Bank are very
pleased with Community West Bancshares' decision to allow Palomar to remain
locally based and independent." said Rick Sanborn, Palomar Community Bank
President and CEO. "Our ability to maintain control of Palomar locally is a
win-win for Palomar, the businesses and residents of North San Diego County, and
Community West."
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The transaction will enable Palomar to continue to deliver the products and
services of value specific to our customer's individual needs rather than the
uniform menu of banking products seen in many larger regional banks. "There are
no plans for any changes in operations or staffing", said Sanborn. "It will be
business as usual".
The transaction is slated to be complete within the first quarter of 2001.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Community West Bancshares is a financial services company with headquarters in
Goleta, California. The Company currently has two subsidiaries. Palomar
Community Bank has a full service branch located in Escondido, California.
Goleta National Bank has two full service branches, one in Goleta and one in
Ventura, California. It is one of the Nation's largest SBA lenders with loan
production offices located in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. The
principal going-forward business areas and profit generators of the Company are
core banking with net interest margins, Mortgage lending with fee income and
Small Business Administration (SBA) lending with fee income.
SAFE HARBOR DISCLOSURE
This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's
current views of future events and operations. These forward-looking statements
are based on information currently available to the Company as of the date of
this release. It is important to note that these forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties,
including but not limited to, the ability of the Company to implement its
strategy and expand its lending operations. Furthermore the Company will have
certain restrictions placed on its operations by the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency until it deems that it has substantially complied with the
letter agreement signed by the GNB Board of Directors. The Company has
attempted to incorporate these restrictions into its business plans and it
believes that they will not impact the organization's earnings ability into the
future.
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