AHMANSON DEALS TO ACQUIRE COAST; THRIFTS MERGER TO COST NEARLY $900 MILLION.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer The consolidation of California's banking industry continued Monday as Irwindale-based H.F. Ahmanson & Co. said it will buy rival Coast Savings Financial Inc. for about $900 million. The deal will make Ahmanson, spurned spurn v. spurned, spurn·ing, spurns v.tr. 1. To reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn. See Synonyms at refuse1. 2. To kick at or tread on disdainfully. v. earlier this year by Chatsworth-based Great Western Financial Corp., the nation's second-largest thrift company. Combined with Coast Savings, Ahmanson's assets will total $56.6 billion, including $39.2 billion in deposits. The new company will serve more than two million households through 460 financial service centers in California, Florida and Texas. It will be the third-largest financial institution based in California. Ahmanson is parent of Home Savings of America; Coast Financial operates Coast Federal Savings. ``We're very excited about the combination of our two companies. We think it's very positive to our respective shareholders, employees and the community,'' said Charles R. Rinehart, Ahmanson's chairman and chief executive. ``This transaction is good for California since it creates an even stronger competitor headquartered in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, .'' Wall Street and industry analysts showed approval for the deal Monday. Ahmanson closed at 58-5/8, up 1-1/2; Coast closed at 58 13/16, up 4 13/16. ``We think it's a pretty darn good deal for both sides. It's very well thought out,'' said Thomas F. Theurkauf, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Rinehart said the deal was not a defensive move to keep possible suitors away from Ahmanson, which was the subject of takeover speculation after it lost its bid for Great Western. And Rinehart said the company would consider other acquisitions if the financial terms are attractive. ``We're not here to be an also-ran, so I guess we see ourselves as a dominant player,'' he said in a conference call with reporters. ``If we have a situation like the one we have here with Coast . . . to acquire a company that has a culture very similar to ours and has high-quality people, and fits our overall move to becoming a full-service bank, then, absolutely, we'll be interested,'' he said. Ironically, Theurkauf said the merger might in fact make Ahmanson a more attractive takeover target Takeover target A company that is the object of a takeover attempt, friendly or hostile. takeover target See target company. . ``It builds their franchise, their deposit base and their customer base. They are creating value on a stand-alone basis and at the end of the day, if somebody comes calling, they will be able to deliver an attractive book of business,'' he said. Terms call for Coast shareholders to receive a tax-free exchange tax-free exchange An exchange of assets between taxpayers in which any gain or loss is not recognized in the period during which the exchange takes place. Rather, taxpayers are required to adjust the basis of assets exchanged. of 0.8082 shares of Ahmanson common stock for each share of Coast common stock. In addition, Coast shareholders will receive tradable certificates representing the right to receive an amount equal to 100 percent of any after-tax proceeds from Coast's litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. against the federal government. Coast, headquartered in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , has 1,500 employees compared with Ahmanson's 9,300 employees. Some branch closings and layoffs are likely but executives at both companies said it is too early to say how deep the cuts will be. Probable targets are the approximately 50 branches of the two companies that are within roughly one mile of each other. Executives said they will try to keep layoffs to a minimum. It could be possible because the two companies offer different types of financial products and Ahmanson has about 500 job openings as a result of a hiring freeze Noun 1. hiring freeze - a freeze on hiring freeze - fixing (of prices or wages etc) at a particular level; "a freeze on hiring" implemented as it pursued Great Western. This was a friendly merger reached without the rancor that accompanied Ahmanson's battle with Seattle-based Washington Mutual “WaMu” redirects here. For the Washington, DC radio station, see WAMU. Washington Mutual (or WaMu; NYSE: WM) is the United States' largest savings and loan association. Inc. for control of Great Western. That merger created the nation's biggest thrift with assets of $88 billion. ``We are proud to have Coast join forces with Home Savings at this time,'' said Ray Martin, Coast chairman and chief executive. ``Their top-flight board and management team have demonstrated a strong and savvy commitment to enhancing shareholder value, and we believe this combination will accelerate their well-under-way transformation into a regional banking powerhouse A fourth-generation language from Cognos that was introduced in the late 1970s for midrange computers. It supports both character-oriented, terminal-based applications as well as Windows clients. Applications developed under PowerHouse can be imported into Cognos' Axiant client/server environment. .'' Rinehart will be the new company's chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , and Martin will join Ahmanson's board. Eric Withrow, an analyst at SNL SNL Saturday Night Live SNL Sandia National Laboratories SNL School for New Learning (Depaul University) SNL Springfield News-Leader (Missouri newspaper) SnL Sweet N Low SNL Standard Nomenclature List Securities in Charlottesville, Va., said this deal is perfect for Ahmanson. ``It was a pretty good move after the fallout fallout, minute particles of radioactive material produced by nuclear explosions (see atomic bomb; hydrogen bomb; Chernobyl) or by discharge from nuclear-power or atomic installations and scattered throughout the earth's atmosphere by winds and convection currents. of Great Western and they really got it at a good price,'' he said. Another merger The friendly merger announced Monday between HF Ahmanson & Co. and Coast Savings will be the third-largest in the West this year if it is approved. THE PLAYERS H.F. AHMANSON COAST SAVINGS COMBINED Total assets $47.5 million $9.1 million $56.6 million Total deposits $32.7 million $6.4 million $39.1 million Market share percentage (rank): Los Angeles Co. 9.35 (3) 3.01 (8) 12.36 (2) Ventura Co. 13.45 (3) 3.17 (7) 16.62 (2) Total branches 370 90 460x Southern California branches 148 62 210x Households served 1.6 million418,000 2.2 million Employees 9,254 1,500 10,754x The state's 10 largest financial institutions Institution Market share 1. BankAmerica Corp. 20.30 2. Wells Fargo Wells Fargo armored carriers of bullion. [Am. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1147] See : Protectiveness Wells Fargo company that handled express service to western states; often robbed. [Am. Hist. & Co. 14.35 3. Washington Mutual 9.03 4. HF Ahmanson & Co. 7.46 5. Union BanCal Corp. 4.66 6. Golden West Financial 4.21 7. MacAndrews & Forbes 3.66 8. Golden State Bancorp 2.80 9. Coast Savings Financial 1.60 10. Sanwa Bank 1.40 The five largest deals in the West this year Buyer/Seller Date Announced Deal 1. First Bank System/US Bancorp March 20 $9.1 billion 2. Washington Mutual/Great Western March 6 $7 billion 3. HF Ahmanson/Coast Savings October 6 $900 million 4. Bay View/American First Financial May 8 $300 million 5. Golden State/Cenfed August 18 $210 million x Officials with the two thrifts said some layoffs and branch closures are anticipated, but the number is expected to be small because there is little overlap in operations. SOURCE: SNL Securities, company reports, Daily News research CAPTION(S): Photo, 3 Boxes Photo: (Color) Coast Federal Bank's parent, Coast Savings Financial Inc., has approved a buyout Buyout The purchase of a company or a controlling interest of a corporation's shares. Notes: A leveraged buyout is accomplished with borrowed money or by issuing more stock. offer from H.F. Ahmanson & Co. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Box: (1-3--Color) ANOTHER MERGER (See text) |
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