U.S. Bancorp in bid for B of A assets.

U.S. Bancorp in Bid for B of A Assets

NEW YORK - U.S. Bancorp said it has bid on $1.2 billion in Washington assets and roughly $1 billion in Northern California assets that BankAmerica Corp. is planning to divest as a result of its pending merger with Security Pacific Corp.

U.S. Bancorp previously had expressed interest in the two separate packages.

President and chief operating officer Kevin Kelly, speaking at a Mabon Securities Research conference here, said that BankAmerica has indicated it doesn't think U.S. Bancorp would be the most desirable bidder for the Washington package because of the competitive threat it would present.

No. 2 in Washington

After the merger of BankAmerica and Security Pacific, U.S. Bancorp will be the No. 2 banking company in Washington State and BankAmerica's chief competitor there.

Portland-based U.S. Bancorp is the dominant banking company in Oregon.

U.S. Bancorp said it expects the bid reviews to be completed in Oregon.

U.S. Bancorp said it expects the bid reviews to be completed by the end of this month.

As reported, BankAmerica and Security Pacific plan to sell branches holding about $4 billion in deposits, in hopes of allaying regulators' concerns that a merger of the two bank giants would result in excessive market concentration.

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