Ford Financial Fund Announces Closing of Fund II

DALLAS, TX, May 17, 2013 – Ford Financial Fund, a private equity fund focused on investments in financial services companies, today announced the closing of Ford Financial Fund II, L.P. with $755 million in commitments. Ford Financial Fund is led by Gerald J. Ford and Carl B. Webb, two of the nation’s most experienced and successful investors in, and operators of, financial services companies. The General Partner is committing $113 million of its own capital to Fund II.

Gerald J. Ford, Co-Managing Member at Ford Financial Fund, commented, “We are pleased by the tremendous interest in Fund II from an excellent group of investors. We appreciate the confidence of our Fund I limited partners who recommitted to invest with us and welcome the new investors who joined us for Fund II. We look forward to leveraging our experience in the financial services industry to continue to source unique investment opportunities.”

Fund II follows the successful $500 million recapitalization of Pacific Capital Bancorp in 2010 by Fund I. Pacific Capital Bancorp was the publicly-traded holding company of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust (“SBB&T”). SBB&T provided a full line-up of community banking, commercial banking, and trust and wealth management products and services. SBB&T had approximately $6 billion in assets and 45 branches along the central coast of California prior to its acquisition in 2012 by Union Bank, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.

“Our investment in Pacific Capital Bancorp was a tremendous success, but there are many new opportunities in financial services across the United States that we look forward to exploring,” said Carl B. Webb, Co-Managing Member at Ford Financial Fund.

About Ford Financial Fund

Ford Financial Fund is a private equity fund with $755 million in commitments that is focused on investments in financial services companies. Our Co-Managing Members, Gerald J. Ford and Carl B. Webb, together with the rest of our team, possess a rare combination of investment skill, deep industry expertise and decades of operational experience.

Ford Financial Fund invests in a variety of opportunities, from healthy companies in need of growth equity to troubled banks that need to be recapitalized. We have the flexibility to make both control and non-control investments. Unlike most private equity funds, we are structured and prepared to become a bank holding company under applicable banking regulations.

Disclaimer

This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation in any state or other jurisdiction to subscribe for or purchase any interests in Ford Financial Fund II, L.P. The interests were offered in a private placement to a limited number of investors and were not registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, or the securities laws of any state or non-U.S. jurisdiction. Accordingly, such interests may not be sold or transferred without compliance with all applicable U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. securities laws.