TransCapital Puts Biggest Ohio Thrift on Block
CLEVELAND - TransCapital Financial Corp. said it has placed its subsidiary, TransOhio Savings Bank, up for sale.
The Cleveland-based savings bank, with $4.6 billion in assets, is the largest thrift in Ohio.
TransCapital said it had received expressions of interest mainly from commercial banks and was supplying confidential data to prospective purchasers. It said there was no assurance that it would be able to complete a sale at an attractive price.
"While TransOhio has not had satisfactory earnings performance during recent quarters, the losses are attributable to specifically identifiable factors," TransCapital said. "Also, TransOhio has identified numerous opportunities for operational improvements."
Capital-Raising Measure
TransCapital, a subsidiary of the Miami-based financial services company American Capital Corp., previously announced that it had been evaluating alternatives for increasing TransOhio's capital. The sale of TransOhio was listed as one option.
The company put its book value at $10.56 a share, or about $104 million.
In its midyear 1991 earnings report, TransOhio said operating expenses were down 20% in each of the first two quarters, thanks to a cost-containment program; the curtailment of the operations of AmeriStar, a mortgage banking subsidiary; and the sale of branches in Columbus, Ohio.
Although the thrift exceeded minimum capital requirements, it had signed a regulatory agreement to raise tangible capital to 4.5% of assets and was $121.6 million short.
