Bass Group Weighs Bid For Great American
Robert M. Bass Group, owners of American Savings Bank of Stockton, has joined the handful of investors known to be considering offers to buy troubled Great American Bank.
Well-placed sources on both sides said Bass Group is “taking a look” at buying the San Diego-based savings and loan, which last week said it faces a possible seizure by regulators unless it can find a buyer or raise $350 million in capital by year-end.
If the Bass Group acquires Great American, it may merge it with American Savings to create the largest S&L; network in California, with 307 branches statewide. “You’d have the Bank of America of S&Ls;,” one source said.
A Bass spokesman in New York declined to comment. Great American, with $15.9 billion in assets the nation’s eighth-largest S&L;, said through a spokesman that it does not comment on possible mergers. American Savings has 176 branches in the state, while 131 of Great American’s 211 branches are in California.
Stricken with a growing burden of bad real estate loans in Arizona and California, Great American last week announced 1989 losses totaling $263.4 million and said its tangible capital--a measure of its cushion against loss--had dropped to $85.9 million, about one-third of the minimum required by regulators for a thrift its size.
To avoid a possible seizure, Great American said its options are to shrink assets drastically, raise $350 million in outside capital or sell itself to another bank or S&L.; Industry analysts said a merger was Great American’s best option because chances of raising the outside capital or successfully shrinking assets are slim.
Without identifying them, Great American said last week that it was talking to several interested investors. Wells Fargo and Security Pacific have acknowledged interest, while BankAmerica and Citicorp are also said to be considering a bid.
Bass Group acquired American Savings on Dec. 28, 1988, the same day American was seized by regulators. Under Chairman Mario J. Antoci, the S&L; has since become hugely profitable.
Times staff writer James S. Granelli in Orange County contributed to this article.
