Private equity firm Ford Financial owns 79% of Mechanics Bank. : Mechanics Bank agreed to buy much of Dutch lender Rabobank Group’s US operations for about $2.1 billion, bringing together two California lenders and extending the combined company’s reach throughout much of the state. Mechanics, based in Walnut Creek, California, is gaining Rabobank’s US retail, business-banking, commercial real estate, mortgage and wealth-management businesses, the companies said in a statement Friday. The unit, Rabobank NA, has more than $13 billion in assets and 100 branches, while Mechanics has more than $6 billion and 44 branches throughout the state.