Western Fed Sold to Home Savings, Others

The Resolution Trust Corp. said late Friday that it sold Western Federal Savings Bank of Marina del Rey to Home Savings of America and two other financial institutions for a combined $88.9 million.

Irwindale-based Home Savings agreed to pay $87.2 million for Western Fed’s headquarters office in Marina del Rey and 22 other branches scattered across Los Angeles and Orange counties. Together, the offices have $1.7 billion in deposits, the RTC said.

Founders National Bank, one of the few Los Angeles-based financial institutions that is owned and managed by African Americans, will pay the RTC $880,000 for the $22.5 million in deposits at the Western Fed branch on the USC campus.

The thrift’s remaining office, in Panorama City, was sold to Pan American Bank of San Mateo. Pan American will pay $808,026 to take over the branch and its $68.2 million in deposits.

All the branches will reopen with their buyers’ names on Monday, the RTC said. All told, the sales will cost U.S. taxpayers about $239.2 million as a result of federal assistance, it said.

The deal will help Home Savings expand its branch network in Southern California, particularly in more affluent areas that were served by Western Fed.

Regulators seized Western Federal Savings & Loan, which was owned by an investment group headed by former Treasury Secretary William Simon and former Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Preston Martin, last year after it suffered millions of dollars in loan losses caused by Southern California’s prolonged real estate slump. The thrift was renamed Western Federal Savings Bank and has been operated by the federal government.