LAS VEGAS — Utah-based America First CU expanded its presence in this market last week after NCUA arranged a purchase-and-assumption following the liquidation of $159-million Community One FCU.
At the time of the liquidation Community One was all but insolvent with net worth of 0.55%.
According to $4.9-billion America First CU, Community One and its five branches will become a division of AFCU. AFCU EVP John Lund said an expansion of existing operations in the Las Vegas Valley made the P&A attractive; AFCU already operates two branches serving 7,600 members in Clark County.
"Eventually, this economy will turn around and we expect this to be a longer-term opportunity," Lund said. "We feel it is a good credit union and the difficulty it had is related to the economy. It didn't have enough capital to weather the storm."
Lund said the goal is to retain most employees, but to what degree COFCU management will b e retained had not yet been determined. In the near term, branches will retain Community One signage, but Lund expects eventually they will be rebranded as America First.
