City First Bank and Broadway Federal Bank announced their merger on Wednesday. Combined, the lenders said they would have more than $ 1 billion in assets.
City First President and CEO Brian E. Argrett said the two banks worked on their deal for a year.
“We would do this deal because it made sense and because it would provide additional resources to our communities,” Argrett told CNN Business on Thursday.
Broadway Federal, based in Los Angeles, is a community-oriented savings bank dedicated to conventional lending to minority consumers that is often ignored by regular commercial banks, according to the company’s website.
City First, based in Washington DC, describes itself as an “impact-driven” institution that specializes in lending to disadvantaged people and communities. Argrett said combining their resources would make the two banks more possible than they could separate.
“It gives us more lending power,” Argrett said. “It brings additional financial capacity to serve back-owned businesses.”
Argrett said he expects the banks to complete their merger early next year.
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