Merger-Mania Maintains

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - (02/22/06) -- NCUA said it approved another 35mergers last month, continuing a torrid pace that has claimed 130credit unions over the last four months. There was a five-year highof 319 mergers last year, cutting the number of credit unions inthe country to fewer than 9,000, for the first time in fivedecades. Last month's approved mergers included several largecombinations, like: Anheuser Busch Employees FCU, St. Louis ($705million) with Meridian FCU, St. Louis ($120 million); Powerco CU,Gahanna, Ohio ($670 million) with TEA CU, Columbus, Ohio ($35million); OmniFamily CU, Battle Creek, Mich. ($150 million) withKastco CU, Kalamazoo, Mich. ($45 million); and IBM Southeast FCU,Boca Raton, Fla. ($700 million) with H2O FCU, West Palm Beach, Fla.($7 million). Also, Generations Community FCU, in Durham, N.C. ($8million), was approved to acquire two credit unions by merger, St.Luke FCU, Windsor, N.C. ($8 million) and Covenant Community FCU,Research Triangle, N.C. ($370,000).