Usb To Pay $12 Million To Buy Bank Community Bancorporation Purchase Adds 7 Branches

United Security Bancorporation of Spokane has agreed to buy Community Bancorporation and its subsidiary, Bank of Pullman, for $12 million in cash.

The deal announced Wednesday, when completed later this year, would be the third executed this year by USB.

And with the purchase of five branches from Wells Fargo and the pending merger with The Wheatland Bank, the acquisition of Community will almost triple USB’s branch system in just one year.

“I think it’s time to stop and take a breath,” said USB President William “Bud” Dashiell.

He said the decision to bid for Community came shortly after the proposed merger with Bank of Wheatland was disclosed in May.

The bank was approached by a broker who said the closely held Pullman institution was looking for a cash offer for all outstanding stock.

An initial proposal that included USB stock was rejected, Dashiell said. After some reassessment, the decision was made to go forward with an all-cash bid.

He said the funds will be raised internally and through a line of credit with another bank. The capital rating of the bancorporation and its subsidiaries will not be compromised, he added.

USB owns United Security Bank in Spokane and Home Security Bank in Sunnyside, which have 15 branches between them with two more under construction.

Five of those branches were purchased from Wells Fargo earlier this year.

The merger with Davenportbased Wheatland Bank, which will be an exchange of stock, will add another five branches to the system.

Bank of Pullman has seven branches, including a new branch in Moscow that Dashiell said will give USB a beachhead in Idaho.

The other branches are in Pullman, Colton, Palouse and Uniontown.

Community has $58.2 million in assets, $50.9 million in deposits and $7 million in shareholder equity. Net income in 1996 was $906,000.

President Gary Schell said the decision to look for a buyer was driven by a desire to increase shareholder liquidity while preserving Bank of Pullman’s identity.

The institution will have its own board of directors, just as Wheatland, Home Security, and United Security do, he noted.

Dashiell said retention of Schell and Bank of Pullman staff was important to the decision to proceed with the transaction.

“We expect this acquisition to contribute directly to our earnings performance next year,” he said.

, DataTimes