Thrift Office OKs Merger of CalFed, Golden
The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision has approved the merger of California Federal Bank with Golden State Bancorp Inc.
Golden State, parent of Glendale Federal Bank, and San Francisco-based California Federal are merging in a complicated transaction creating the second-largest U.S. thrift after Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. The OTS approved the arrangement in an Aug. 12 letter, signed by Assistant Regional Director Nicholas Dyer. The letter was released Thursday.
Merger terms leave Golden State the surviving company, while handing control to financier Ronald Perelman and his partner, Texas banker Gerald Ford. The merger lets the two investors expand their thrift business and get a publicly traded stock.
The OTS allowed the applicant, Mafco Holdings Inc., to acquire Golden State Bancorp Inc. and merge GSB’s thrift unit, Glendale Federal Bank, with and into California Federal Bank.
The decision didn’t surprise analysts in part because the combination won’t pose a threat to competition in California banking markets. The approval “was expected,” said Thomas O’Donnell, who follows the savings and loan industry for Salomon Smith Barney Inc.
Shares of Golden State Bancorp closed unchanged at $23.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.
In a separate development, the Federal Reserve Board plans to consider the BankAmerica Corp. and NationsBank Corp. merger at a closed meeting Monday.
The Fed gave no hint as to whether it would approve the $60-billion combination of San Francisco-based Bank America, the nation’s fifth-largest bank, and Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank, the third largest. The Fed decides on mergers after considering them at a single meeting, though on occasion, multiple meetings are held.
The Fed held hearings on the proposal in San Francisco earlier this year. Community groups had urged expanded lending to inner-city neighborhoods and low-income rural areas.
In NYSE trading, BankAmerica shares rose 38 cents to close at $81.50, and NationsBank shares lost 50 cents to $72.06.
