In Brief: Albank Makes Another New England Foray

ALBANY - An upstate New York thrift holding company is making its second move into New England in less than a year, buying a $413 million- asset Vermont bank company.

Albank Financial Corp. has agreed to pay about $62.5 million in cash for Marble Financial Corp., Rutland. That's 1.5 times Marble's book value of $11.90 at March 31.

Marble, which has seven branches in central Vermont, $321 million of deposits, and $40 million in equity, will operate as a separate division of Albank's banking subsidiary.

The agreement, which is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to close by yearend 1995 and Albank officials expect it to add to earnings immediately.

The acquisition fulfills Albank's goals of in-market or contiguous market acquisitions that add to earnings within 12 months, said Herbert G. Chorbajian, the company's chairman, president, and chief executive.

The deal also will help $2.9 billion-asset Albank leverage excess capital left over from its April 1992 public stock offering, which raised $156 million. Albank also bought back about 3.6 million outstanding shares for about $64 million as of March 31 and announced in June that it would buy back another 914,000 shares.

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