American Riviera Bank and The Bank of Santa Barbara shareholders approved the banks’ proposed merger, the institutions announced on Oct. 27.

The merger is expected to close by January 2016, pending final regulatory approval. The combined companies, which will go by American Riviera Bank, will have branches in downtown Santa Barbara, Montecito and Goleta and more than $400 million in assets.

While there will be some job consolidations, there’s also opportunity for growth, the bank said. It might expand to Carpinteria or the Santa Ynez Valley, Joanne Funari, interim CEO of the Bank of Santa Barbara and future chief operating officer of the proposed bank, previously told the Business Times.

American Riviera reported $191 million in total loans as of Sept. 30, an 18 percent increase from the third quarter of last year.

For the nine months ending Sept. 30, American Riviera had an unaudited net income of $938,000, or 35 cents per share, which was down from $1.03 million, or 39 cents per share, last year due to merger-related expenses.

Shareholders in The Bank of Santa Barbara will receive .8546 shares of stock in American Riviera for each share they currently own; American Riviera will issue 1,586,000 new shares of stock to complete the transaction.

After the deal closes, American Riviera shareholders will own about 62 percent of the stock and Bank of Santa Barbara shareholders about 38 percent.

The combined bank will offer mortgage and small business lending departments. It will have a legal lending limit of approximately $10 million and a risk-based capital ratio of about 12 percent.

• Contact Alex Kacik at akacik@pacbiztimes.com.