Compass Buying Albuquerque's Biggest Local Bank for $88 Million

Compass Bancshares said Monday that it had reached an agreement to buy Western Bancshares of Albuquerque for $88 million in stock.

Western is the largest locally owned bank in Albuquerque. It would bring $285 million of assets, $234 million of deposits, and $34 million of equity to $17.7 billion-asset Compass.

D. Paul Jones Jr., Compass' chairman and chief executive officer, said his company was attracted by Western's profitability and its presence in a fast-growing region. Western has earned more than 1.85% on assets in each of the past five years.

Compass has 293 branches and more than 6,600 employees in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, and Texas. It bought Arizona Bank in December and 15 branches from Norwest and Wells Fargo in April.

A deal announced this year to acquire Hartland Bank in Austin, Tex., is pending. Once it and the Western Bancshares deals are completed, Compass would have assets of $18.3 billion in five states.

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