Deadline for American S&L; Sale Extended

U.S. savings and loan regulators have extended the deadline for the proposed sale of American Savings & Loan until Aug. 1, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board said Tuesday.

The bank board has been conducting exclusive talks aimed at selling American Savings to private investors led by Texas billionaire Robert M. Bass. American Savings, which is insolvent, is the nation’s second-largest thrift.

The regulatory agency had originally given the Robert M. Bass Group in Ft. Worth until July 5 to consummate a purchase but has extended that deadline 3 1/2 weeks. The “complexity of the transaction made the extension of the deadline advisable,” the bank board said in a statement, adding that the decision was “based on the substantial progress made in negotiations to date.”

Regulators have been trying for more than a year to find new capital for ailing American Savings, which is headquartered in Stockton and has 185 branch offices throughout California. The thrift is the operating subsidiary of Financial Corp. of America, based in Irvine.