Ventura County

Completion of Bank of A. Levy Sale: A Ventura County institution officially expires Tuesday when the 112-year-old Bank of A. Levy is expected to complete its sale to First Interstate Bancorp for $86 million in stock. Ventura-based Levy has 17 branches in Ventura County and $625 million in assets. When the sale was announced, Levy’s chief executive, Marshall Milligan, offered a rather unsentimental explanation: “Community banking,” he said, “is a cottage industry destined to go the way of blacksmiths and butcher shops.” First Interstate said Levy customers won’t notice any changes until April 21, when the two banks merge their branches and the A. Levy signs come down. It marks First Interstate’s second recent purchase in Ventura County. Last January, it completed the $23-million acquisition of First State Bank of the Oaks, a five-branch bank headquartered in Thousand Oaks. It has bought more than a dozen smaller, community-oriented banks over the past 18 months.