In Brief: First Alliance Shelves California Thrift Bid

First Alliance Corp., an Irvine, Calif., consumer finance firm, has withdrawn its bid to buy a Newport Beach, Calif., thrift, according to the Office of Thrift Supervision.

First Alliance agreed last June to buy Standard Pacific Savings for about $10 million in cash. Standard Pacific was to be renamed First Alliance Bank and begin offering credit cards in conjunction with a Los Angeles thrift.

OTS officials did not say why the application was withdrawn. But in a press release, First Alliance chief financial officer Mark Mason said the OTS had not acted on the application before the acquisition agreement expired Jan. 31.

Standard Pacific chairman and chief executive Arthur E. Svendsen would not comment on why the deal collapsed. The $112 million-asset thrift is looking for another buyer.

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