PacWest Begins Sale of $5.7 Billion Portfolio to Kennedy Wilson

PacWest Bancorp has completed the first part of the sale of a $5.7 billion loan portfolio to real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson Holdings Inc. as the US regional bank takes steps to shore up liquidity.

The first tranche of loans acquired by Kennedy Wilson and its affiliate Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. totaled $3.25 billion in commitments and $1.8 billion in principal balances, Kennedy Wilson said in a statement Friday.

A Pacific Western Bank branch in Encino, California

Photographer: Morgan Lieberman/Bloomberg

Cain International and Security Benefit Life Insurance Co. agreed to buy 10 of the loans, which are focused on rental apartments and student-housing developments in New York City and ...