Calif. Bancshares buying thrift from R.I.

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- California Bancshares said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Old Stone Bank of California, a thrift formerly affiliated with Old Stone of Providence, R.I.

California Bancshares said it will pay $16.7 million in cash, which equals Old Stone of California's book value on March 31. The latter's current owner is the Employees Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island.

The Old Stone unit is based in Hayward, Calif., and has $263 million of assets - mostly single-family, floating-rate mortgages - and eight retail branches in California Bancshares' primary market areas of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Including Old Stone and the pending acquisition of the Bank of Livermore, California Bancshares would have $1.4 billion of assets and 12 subsidiaries. The acquirer then plans to keep most of the Old Stone offices as branches of their nearest California Baneshares subsidiaries.

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