Riordan Lewis & Haden, a private equity firm co-founded by former mayor Richard Riordan, will announce this week that it has closed its most recent fund, RLH Investors II, with $265 million in committed capital.

The fund will act as a typical private equity firm and is targeting companies in sectors such as business services, health care, financial services, specialty distribution and what it calls “high value-added” manufacturing. Investments are expected to range from $10 million to $50 million.

“When you look at the growth in population, health care is important, as well as financial services,” said J. Christopher Lewis, one of the firm’s founding and general partners. “When you look at the growth of the immigrant population and all of the under-banked and underserved opportunities that are there, these are two of the several sectors we’re really looking to make progress in.”

RLH Investors II is just the second time in the firm’s 25-year history that it has accepted outside investment and the first time it will begin to look at companies outside of California as investment opportunities.

The roster of investors includes a cadre of businesses that are closely tied to the region and state, including SunAmerica, Southern California Edison, Wells Fargo and City National Bank. Also participating are the California Public Employees Retirement System and the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, as well as foundations and high net worth individuals.

“The key issue is that for the first 18 years or so we managed our own fund. We were approached a lot but we didn’t take outside dollars. It was self-funded by the people whose names were on the door,” Lewis said. “But as we grew in size we became more receptive to the idea of outside funding. And now that we’re continuing to grow we’ll be looking at companies in the western United States as well as California.”

Desert Oasis

Dominic Ng, chief executive of East West Bancorp Inc., likes the name of the bank his company acquired last week Desert Community Bank and unlike other post acquisition re-branding efforts, he plans to keep the name intact.

“It’s in the desert community, and it’s a bank. You can’t get any simpler than that,” said Ng, of the Victorville institution that East West agreed to acquire for $146 million in cash and stock. “If we made the purchase in L.A. where we have brand exposure then we would change the name, because it means something as the second largest L.A.-based bank.”

Ng said East West had been looking to expand in the high desert for quite some time, adding that the lower residential and commercial real estate prices will likely lure individuals, businesses and by extension customers to an area experiencing population growth. He also said expanded warehousing as well as talks of a logistics airport and an inland port in Victorville will be a boon for international trade channels between U.S. and China another key source of customers.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal, which still needs approval by state and federal regulators once Desert Community Bank shareholders give it the OK.

Ng hopes the deal will close by July, which is one of the hottest months of the year in the region, a fact not lost on Ng. He plans to keep Ron Wilson as chief executive of what will be a division of the holding company.

“Well it’s a hot region and the bank has good core deposits,” he said. “It’s part of our long term strategy. We were thirsty for deals and the desert was a good place to start.”

Twist of Green

This year witnessed the first “Green” Academy Awards ceremony, with ballots printed on recycled paper and the continued emergence of environmentalism as a tool for brand extension.

Now, a Greenpeace-meets-greenbacks philosophy has insinuated itself in the local financial community.

Gerber and Co., a Beverly Hills-based public accounting and financial advisement firm, is touting its paperless processing as cutting edge.

The Gerber firm claims it has taken the lead nationally for “green-friendly financial processing”, converting its tax preparation client work product from a foot-thick “brick” into a thin archival CD after e-filing both federal and state returns.

“The timing is perfect,” said partner Moshe Graber. “Consumers are choosing to drive hybrids, switching to fluorescent bulbs, and even replacing their rose bushes with cactus gardens. They certainly don’t want their CPA firm to cut down a mini-forest of trees simply to process financial affairs.”

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. said recently it was the first U.S. financial institution to make clean, renewable energy reward options available to its cardholders.

Warm and Toasty

The toaster giveaway has made an unexpected reappearance.

In part of a drive to bring in more deposits and checking account holders in the Los Angeles area, Bank of the West announced last week that it would be giving new debit card customers free toasters. In 47 Los Angeles County locations and Nevada, the bank will use the retro-style toaster give away as a symbolic reminder of the banking industry’s promotional endeavors of yesteryear.

“It’s a tongue and cheek campaign but we’re serious about business, “said Bank of the West Los Angeles spokesman Bob Wolff. “In this day and age of I-pods and vacation giveaways, this initiative is meant to evoke memories of a day gone by when personal services and relationships were more commonplace,”

Staff reporter Jabulani Leffall can be reached at

[email protected]

or 323-549-5225 ext. 228