U.S. Bank purchase of Colonial moves it into area's top three

U.S. Bank's purchase of seven former branch locations of Colonial Bank in Northern Nevada vaults it into position as one of the largest financial institutions in the region.

U.S. Bancorp, the Minneapolis-based parent of U.S. Bank, said last week it struck a deal to purchase the former Colonial locations - and their deposits - from BB&T Corp. of Winston-Salem, N.C. BB&T ended up with the branches after it was named receiver for Colonial Bank when it failed in August.

Included are branches in Carson City, Reno, Sparks, Fallon and Gardnerville Ranchos, said Ken Ladd, western regional president of U.S. Bank. U.S. Bank also will purchase branches and deposit relationships in the Las Vegas and Paradise markets from BB&T Corp.

Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. It's expected to close in early 2010, pending the approval of regulators.

Colonial Bank's $73 million in deposits in Carson City gave it a 6.3 percent share of the market, the FDIC said in a report based on mid-2008 figures. In Washoe County, Colonial had $126.2 million in deposits for a 1.85 percent market share.

The addition of those deposits to the existing business of U.S. Bank might prove enough to vault the bank into third position, trailing only Wells Fargo and Bank of America, in Washoe County and Carson City.

U.S. Bank currently has nine traditional branch locations and about 20 in-store locations in Northern Nevada. As of mid-2008, U.S. Bank had $481 million in deposits in the Reno market and $77 million in Carson City.

With the acquisition, U.S. Bank is likely to have about a 10 percent share of the banking market in Reno-Sparks.

The former Colonial locations in Northern Nevada employ nearly 100 people. Ladd said U.S. Bank doesn't expect to close any of the locations.

"This is a big darned deal for us," he said, noting that the acquisition boosts customer counts while providing a larger footprint for U.S. Bank's retail operations in Northern Nevada.

As Colonial Bank teetered near failure this summer, it struck a deal to sell the Nevada assets to Global Consumer Acquisition Corp., a new company. That plan fell apart after Colonial was taken over by the FDIC.