Metrobank hits billion-dollar mark with acquisition; bank could become one of top 20 in state if deal gets OK.Metrobank will expand to more than $1.2 billion in assets and become one of the 20 largest banks in the state if it completes a proposed acquisition of a Long Beach bank, Chairman David Buell told the Business Journal last week. Westwood-based Metrobank, with $996 million in assets, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire National Bank of Long Beach with $230 million in assets, Buell said. The deal, which is subject to federal banking regulators' approval, is expected to go through in first-quarter 1995. Metrobank has agreed to pay book value for the bank at the time the deal closes, Buell said. Book value for the bank, which is owned by Danish insurance and financial service conglomerate conglomerate, in business conglomerate, corporation whose asset growth, often very rapid, comes largely through the acquisition of, or merger with, other firms whose products are largely unrelated to each other or to that of the parent company. Topdanmark Group, was $25 million at June 30. Topdanmark, in a release, stated that selling the bank fits its "strategy of selling and/or liquidating foreign banking activities to exclusively concentrate its future business on core activities" of insurance and banking in Europe. National Bank of Long Beach has four branches -- in Irvine and Torrance and two in Long Beach -- and employs 100. Buell said he plans to merge the Irvine office into Metrobank's Costa Mesa Costa Mesa (kŏs`tə mā`sə), city (1990 pop. 96,357), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific south of Santa Ana; inc. 1953. It is a transportation, residential, and light industrial center. office and National Bank's office in Torrance office into Metrobank's office there. Buell plans to maintain National Bank's two Long Beach offices. Buell said he expects some "modest" layoffs of National Bank employees. Campbell Chaney, a bank analyst with the San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden office of Chicago-based investment firm Rodman rod·man n. One who carries and employs a leveling rod under the supervision of a surveyor. & Renshaw, said Metrobank is paying "a relatively inexpensive" price because most bank sales are for more than book value, Chaney said. The price also indicates National Bank may be still "recovering" from the recession. At June 30, 3 percent of its total assets were nonperforming -- soured sour adj. sour·er, sour·est 1. Having a taste characteristic of that produced by acids; sharp, tart, or tangy. 2. Made acid or rancid by fermentation. 3. loans or foreclosed real estate. Less than 2 percent is considered healthy. The bank is profitable and well capitalized Capitalized Recorded in asset accounts and then depreciated or amortized, as is appropriate for expenditures for items with useful lives longer than one year. by federal standards, but is under a order from its regulators to overcome asset quality problems and clean up its balance sheet, said T.J. Grasmick, the Long Beach bank's attorney. Metrobank, unlike many Westside banks its size, has "done a fantastic job" escaping asset quality problems, Chaney said. Its ratio of nonperforming assets Nonperforming asset An asset that is not effectively producing income, such as an overdue loan. nonperforming asset An asset that produces no income. to total assets was 1.5 percent at June 30. Chaney said the acquisition was "a step in the right direction" for Metrobank, noting National Bank has a sophisticated foreign exchange operation. Chaney said he believes Metrobank would have soon topped $1 billion in assets even without the acquisition. "We used to say if you're over $1 billion, you're on people's radar screens -- both investors looking to invest and other banks looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a bank to acquire," he said. |
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