CalFed May Issue Stock

California Federal Bank, the Los Angeles thrift owned by financier Ronald Perelman, is considering an initial public offering of stock early next year, the institution’s chairman said Tuesday.

“We’re strongly considering it, but it’s not definite,” said Gerald Ford, CalFed’s chairman and chief executive.

The offering, which could occur as soon as January or February, is expected to raise about $700 million, representing 15% to 20% of the thrift’s common stock. Perelman’s underwriter, Goldman, Sachs & Co., expects to price the shares at about twice the book value, which would value CalFed at more than $4.6 billion, the sources said.

The move is a milestone in Perelman’s highly profitable nine-year venture into savings and loans. In 1988, he bought five failed Texas institutions from the federal government, eventually parlaying the holdings through transactions into the fourth-largest U.S. thrift, overwhelmingly concentrated in California.

Institutions comparable to CalFed, such as Glendale-based Golden State Bancorp and Irwindale-based H.F. Ahmanson & Co., trade from about two to three times book value, or their assets minus liabilities.

Perelman, through the firm McAndrews & Forbes, owns 80% of California Fed’s common stock. Ford owns the remaining 20%.

CalFed has $30.9 billion in assets.

CalFed’s owners have said they are prepared to sell the thrift if they can get a high price. An offering of a minority equity stake could help pave the way for an eventual sale by establishing a value for the thrift’s equity, analysts said.