A Year-End Urge To Merge

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - (12/21/05) -- Credit unions continued theirtraditional end-of-the-year move to complete mergers last month,with 30 more combinations approved in November, following 35 inOctober, the highest monthly figure in 2005, NCUA said Tuesday.Through the first 11 months of 2005 there were 290 credit unionmergers, on pace to top last year's 300 mergers. The biggestmergers approved last month were: Addison Avenue FCU, Palo Alto,Calif. ($1.8 billion) with CH2M Hill FCU, Corvallis, Ore. ($25million); THINK FCU, Rochester, Minn. ($1.8 billion) with MinnesotaMutual Companies CU, St. Paul ($20 million); Indiana Members CU,Indianapolis ($900 million) with Capital Plus CU, Indianapolis ($26million); and Capital Community CU, Grand Rapids, Mich. ($225million) with Citizens Choice FCU, Greenville, Mich. ($25million).