Westcorp Announces Completion of Successful Rights Offering Transaction

    IRVINE, Calif.--March 12, 2002--Westcorp , the financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial and Western Financial Bank, today announced the successful completion of its previously announced rights offering.
    Westcorp raised a total of $61 million in gross proceeds through the issuance of 3.8 million additional common shares at a price of $15.75 per share. All unexercised rights expired on March 4, 2002. With the completion of this offering, WFS Financial's total number of common shares issued and outstanding increased 9% to 35.7 million shares.
    "This transaction was well received and significantly oversubscribed reflecting shareholder confidence in the company," said Tom Wolfe, president of Westcorp. "The additional capital is designed to enhance shareholder value by supporting the significant growth we continue to experience in our nationwide automobile finance business."
    Westcorp is a financial services holding company whose principal subsidiaries are WFS Financial Inc and Western Financial Bank. Westcorp is a publicly owned company whose common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WES. Information about Westcorp can be found at its Web site at http://www.westcorpinc.com.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, WFS, is one of the nation's largest independent automobile finance companies. WFS specializes in originating, securitizing and servicing new and pre-owned prime and non-prime credit quality automobile contracts through its nationwide relationships with automobile dealers. Information about WFS can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfsfinancial.com.
    Westcorp, through its subsidiary, Western Financial Bank, operates 24 retail bank branches throughout California and provides commercial banking services in Southern California. Information on the products and services offered by the bank can be found at its Web site at http://www.wfb.com.