Citizens Equity First Credit Union in Peoria, Ill., is entering the California market by acquiring a Silicon Valley-area credit union that was taken over by the National Credit Union Administration two months ago.
Valley Credit Union, now with $200 million of assets, operates in Alameda, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara counties.
It lost $6.9 million last year and another $8.9 million in the first three quarters of this year before being seized.
The $3.6 billion-asset Citizens Equity, the second-largest credit union in Illinois, has kicked the tires of other failed California institutions in recent months but refrained from doing any deals because it was not comfortable with the levels of loan losses. In an interview with the Peoria Journal Star, Citizens Equity president Mark Spenny said his credit union agreed to buy Valley after "doing a deep and careful analysis" of its financial information.
Citizens Equity did not disclose the deal price. The purchase is expected to close by yearend.
