Levy Bancorp Acquires Santa Paula Savings

Levy Bancorp, a Ventura-based holding company for the Bank of A. Levy, said it acquired the deposits and certain assets of Santa Paula Savings, a five-office thrift.

Levy bought the thrift from the Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency that manages failed thrifts and disposes of their deposits and assets. Santa Paula Savings had not been meeting federal capital requirements and had been looking for a buyer for several months, Levy said.

Levy acquired Santa Paula Savings’ $236.3 million of deposits (which are liabilities for a bank), and $226.8 million of its assets, including $157.5 million of loans. Levy also paid a $7.4-million premium to the RTC.

Santa Paula Savings has offices in Santa Paula, Camarillo, Ventura, Ojai and Oxnard. Those offices were reopened Saturday as branches of Bank of A. Levy. Levy Bancorp now has total assets of $885 million, and said the acquisition was the largest in the bank’s 109-year history.