1st Nationwide Rescues S

Federal regulators announced Friday that a financially troubled New Jersey savings and loan institution was being acquired by a California institution.

Officials said the acquisition of Lincoln Federal Savings & Loan Assn. of Westfield, N.J., represented the 140th troubled S&L; case resolved this year.

Lincoln Federal is being acquired by First Nationwide Bank of San Francisco.

The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which insures deposits at savings and loans, said it was providing assistance totaling $145.7 million, including $40 million in cash, as part of the deal.

15 N.J. Branches

In a news release announcing the acquisition, officials said Lincoln Federal began experiencing problems when the institution invested in out-of-state commercial loans, mortgages and consumer loans, many of them concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, regions of the country that have been hit hard by depressed conditions in the energy industry.

Lincoln Federal operates 15 branches in New Jersey. The branches will conduct business as usual and depositors will experience no interruption in service, FSLIC said.