Savings Bank Now Opposes Wedbush Bid

In a seeming reversal of its previous position, Great American First Savings Bank has asked regulators to block a bid by a Los Angeles brokerage firm to increase its 9.8% equity stake in the San Diego company to as much as 24.9%.

Great American officials said Thursday that they filed a letter of opposition on Jan. 17 to Wedbush Corp.’s attempt to increase its holdings in the company.

Great American is opposed to the bid because it wants to “uphold the integrity” of the company’s bylaws and because Los Angeles-based Wedbush’s main business is as a securities broker, not a financial institution investor, according to Great American officials.

The company’s articles of incorporation “prohibit anyone from acquiring more than 10% until Aug. 25, 1986,” according to Senior Executive Vice President Marc Sandstrom.

When Wedbush applied to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to increase its stock holdings in December, both Great American and Wedbush insisted that it was simply a “technical” and routine filing.

Wedbush executives claimed that they applied for the equity increase in case they “inadvertently hit the 10% level,” which would require a change-of-control filing with government regulators.

So little fuss was made over the application that Wedbush officials failed to attend a special Great American shareholders’ meeting on Jan. 10, apparently to reinforce their claims that they weren’t interested in taking over the company, which has $7.7 billion in assets.

But Great American officials, mindful of the series of anti-takeover provisions approved by shareholders when the company went public in 1983, reviewed Wedbush’s application and determined that it would be in the company’s best interest to oppose the request.

“We talked to (President Edward) Wedbush and his position was that he wanted to be able to acquire more shares and that he had to do this (the filing),” Sandstrom said. “We told him we had to retain the integrity of our articles of incorporation.”

Despite the tete-a-tete and the publicity from the two filings, Sandstrom maintained Thursday that “there is no animosity between the two companies.”

Indeed, Wedbush still serves as a clearinghouse for Great American’s investment services, Sandstrom said.

Edward Wedbush could not be reached for comment.