Strengthening its market share in Virginia, First Union Corp. said Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire Ameribanc Investors Group for $108 million in stock.
Ameribanc Investors Group, of Annandale, Va, is the holding company for Ameribanc Savings Bank, which has $1.1 billion in assets, $752 million in deposits, and 29 branches, mostly in the northern part of the state.
First Union said the transaction, which is expected to close in the first half of next year, will cause "minor" dilution to its earnings per share next year but be accretive in 1996. The deal, priced at 1.5 times the thrift's stated book value or 1.8 times its tangible book value, is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Ameribanc has been on the market for a number of years. A decrease in nonperforming assets and improving market conditions spurred by the advent of interstate banking finally paved the way for a sale, said Ameribanc chief financial officer Richard T. Carter.
Analyst Merrill Ross of Wheat First Securities Inc. said the acquisition provides First Union with a needed injection of core deposits. "They're not really garnering the increase in deposits they need to fuel their loan growth, so buying deposits now is a strategy that can continue to fuel the growth on the loan side," she said.
Ameribanc Savings will be integrated into First Union's Virginia subsidiary, First Union National Bank of Virginia. Ameribanc earned $2 million in the second quarter, down from $2.3 million in the same period of 1993. Nonperforming assets declined by $34 million, or 31%, to $76 million during the period.
