OAKLAND, Calif. – Officials of Alliant CU have been running Kaiperm FCU, as the Chicago-based credit union giant prepares to expand its California footprint with a merger of the ailing $96 million credit union.
In an unusual arrangement, the interim president of Kaiperm has departed and the credit union is being managed by Rudy Periera, chief technology and operations officer for Alliant, according to Joe McGowean, spokesman for the $5.3 million credit union.
The boards of the two credit unions have agreed to pursue a merger, but a deal has not yet been finalized, said McGowean. He said Alliant is not officially managing Kaiperm because of the lack of a merger agreement. “It’s not ours to run,” he said.
An acquisition of troubled Kaiperm will help Alliant, the former United Airlines Employees CU, expand its network in California – which includes branches at San Francisco International Airport and in San Mateo and Los Angeles, said McGowean. “We have 25,000 members there,” he told The Credit Union Journal yesterday.
The California presence is the main reason Alliant also considered acquiring Cal State 9 CU, the one-time $460 million credit union that failed under the weight of home equity loans-gone-bad.
Kaiperm is among several bigger California credit unions facing large losses because of troubles in its mortgage portfolio. Kaiperm reported a $3.8-million loss for 2007, followed by a $2.1-million loss for the first quarter of 2008, and has lost 8% of its assets since the end of 2006.
