Western Alliance Bancorporation, headquartered in Phoenix, recently said its subsidiary, Western Alliance Bank, signed an agreement to acquire GE Capital's domestic select-service hotel franchise loan portfolio including outstanding loans of $1.4 billion.

"This acquisition gives Western Alliance the opportunity to establish a new presence in the attractive risk-adjusted return, select-service hotel industry," Western Alliance Chairman and CEO Robert Sarver said.

Sarver said the acquisition would be both a financial and strategic benefit for the company's shareholders.

Approximately 35 members of the GE Captal team in Scottsdale will become part of Western Alliance.

The transaction should take place in April, and will be accretive to Western Alliance's earnings per share, however, it will also be neutral to liquidity as well as capital ratios, thanks to the capital generation rates and the strong growth of deposit.

Western Alliance has been given 10th-place recognition by Forbes 2106 "Best Banks in America," as it is one of the most quickly growing bank holding companies, nationwide, operating a number of banking divisions, across Arizona and the country.