Interwest Buying 3-Branch Puget Sound Bancorp.

Interwest Bancorp is continuing its foray into commercial banking with a deal to acquire Puget Sound Bancorp.

Interwest would pay about $14.7 million to shareholders of Puget Sound, the Port Orchard, Wash.-based holding company with three branches in Kitsap County. That's equal to about three times book value, said Duane R. Guggenmos, president and chief executive officer at Puget Sound.

The deal is Interwest's second commercial bank acquisition in more than a year. The company, which was founded as a thrift in the 1950s, entered commercial banking last August when it bought Central Bancorp., Wenatchee, Wash.

Joseph Morford, an analyst at BT Alex. Brown in San Francisco, said the deal would have only a minor impact on Interwest's earnings.

But he said the deal was a good one for $2.1 billion-asset Interwest because Puget Sound is highly profitable.

Puget Sound, which has assets of $50.6 million, reported a 2% return on assets and a 21% return on equity for the six months ended June 30.

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