O.C. Thrift to Acquire Hawthorne Financial

Commercial Capital Bancorp Inc. of Irvine, a thrift that specializes in financing apartments, has agreed to buy El Segundo-based Hawthorne Financial Corp., a residential and income-property lender with 15 Hawthorne Savings offices.

The all-stock deal, announced late Tuesday, calls for Commercial Capital to trade 1.45 shares of its stock for each Hawthorne share, making the deal worth $493 million at Tuesday’s closing stock price, the companies said.

Commercial Capital has four full-service branches in Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita, La Jolla and Riverside and nine loan offices throughout California.

Commercial Capital Chief Executive Stephen H. Gordon said it made sense to combine Hawthorne’s deposit base with Commercial Capital’s ability to generate apartment loans.

The combined financial institution will have about $4.4 billion in assets and $2.37 billion in deposits. In Nasdaq trading Wednesday, Hawthorne shares rose $3.74 to $34 on the news, while Commercial Capital shares fell $2.12 to $24.03.