In Brief: Two Iowa Thrifts In $19 Million Deal

First Federal Savings Bank of Siouxland, a $469 million-asset thrift in Sioux City, Iowa, has agreed to buy a Grinnell, Iowa, thrift for about $19.2 million cash.

The deal for $92 million-asset GFS Bancorp, announced Friday, is expected to close in the second quarter, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

First Federal agreed to pay $17.65 for each common share of GFS. GFS closed at $16.875 on Monday, up 25 cents.

The deal, announced last week, would be First Federal's first "out-and- out acquisition," said president and chief executive officer Barry Backhaus. Before it formed a mutual holding company in July 1992, First Federal had gone through three mergers, he said in a telephone interview.

Asked whether First Federal plans further acquisitions, Mr. Backhaus said: "We're always looking for a correct fit. This one fit very well for both of us."

While both thrifts are primarily mortgage lenders, First Federal is more concentrated in consumer lending than most of its peers, and GFS is "heavier in commercial real estate loans," he explained.

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