Palo Alto Networks co-founder completes Liberty Bank purchase

Tech money keeps finding its way into small banks — and the latest example closed this week in Irvine, Calif.

Nir Zuk, co-founder of cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks, completed his purchase of DMG Bancshares, the holding company of the $442 million-asset Liberty Bank. He wasn’t alone: Daniel and Betsy Cohen, co-founders of The Bancorp, joined the transaction alongside a group financial services and technology investors.

As part of the deal, Daniel Cohen was named chairman of DMG and Liberty Bank.

This deal has been building since spring. Zuk applied to the Federal Reserve in April to buy voting shares of DMG Bancshares from private equity firms Stone Point Capital and Reverence Capital Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Cohens bring their own weight to the deal. Daniel Cohen chaired The Bancorp for 23 years; Betsy Cohen ran it for much of that stretch. They now lead Cohen Circle, a fintech-focused venture capital fund. Their fingerprints are already on much of the bank-fintech partnership landscape that community bankers navigate today, which makes their involvement here notable beyond just the capital infusion.