Capital Briefs: Pa. Thrift Gets Go-Ahead for Conversion and Sale

Depositors of Wilbur Savings Bank have approved the conversion and sale of the Bethlehem, Pa., mutual thrift to a neighboring bank.

Shareholders of acquirer Ambassador Bank of the Commonwealth in Allentown, Pa., voted Monday in favor of the deal immediately afterward. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in August cleared the way for the mutual-to-stock conversion of $18.1 million-asset Wilbur and its instant acquisition by Ambassador, provided a majority of eligible voters from Wilbur granted approval. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania banking regulators also had cleared the deal, pending the depositor and shareholder votes.

So-called merger conversions are controversial because depositors receive no shares in their converted thrift but instead are offered discounted stock in the buyer. This is only the second such deal approved by federal regulators since early 1994.

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