Washington Federal Savings
Encyclopedia
Washington Federal Savings is the savings and loan subsidiary of Washington Federal, Inc., a bank
holding company
based in Seattle, Washington
. It has operations in Washington, Idaho
, Oregon
, Nevada
, Utah
, Arizona
, New Mexico
, and Texas
.
Founded on April 24, 1917, as Ballard Savings and Loan, it kept the name of Bothell's Washington Federal Savings and Loan after merging with it in 1958. WFSL demutualized in 1982, and the present holding company structure was adopted in 1995.
Mergers and acquisitions subsequent to 1958 include the following:
Mergers and acquisitions in 2000
On May 20, 2003, Washington Federal announced its planned acquisition of the four-branch, Seattle-based United Savings and Loan Bank. United Savings, founded on July 6, 1960, by Robert and Ruth J. Chinn, was the first Asian American
-owned savings and loan in the United States
. The completion of the sale was announced that September. The reported purchase price was $65 million.
WAFED acquired First Mutual Bank of Bellevue, WA. First Mutual Bank has had vast experience in making commercial real estate loans, and operates a wholesale residential department with an emphasis in residential construction lending. This transaction closed in the first quarter of 2008. It is believed that this acquisition will give WAFED a commercial lending ability to compliment its residential real estate lending.
On January 11, 2010, Washington Federal acquired the 18-branch, Bellingham-based Horizon Bank. Horizon Bank was seized by state regulators after the bank failed with assets of 1.3 billion dollars and deposits of 1.2 billion. Horizon Bank marked the first bank that regulators shut down in 2010. Washington Federal was able to purchase these assets at a discounted cost due to the number of risky loans on Horizon Bank's books. This transaction can ultimately cost the FDIC 536 million dollars, almost 50% of the bank's assets. Many of the assets were tied to speculative loans for commercial real estate purchased during the height of the real estate bubble in 2006. When this bubble collapsed, many of these risky loans lost their value. Washington Federal has agreed to absorb 20% of these losses with the remainder being covered by the FDIC. These costs can be reduced as the economy recovers due to rising commercial real estate values. If this occurs the losses by the FDIC would be significantly reduced.
Washington Federal stocks dropped 5.9% on the announcement of this deal due to share holder expectations that a larger acquisition deal would have occurred. This acquisition does not rule out the prospect of future mergers as more banks collapse in 2010 and does not preclude a larger acquisition as share holders expect.
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
based in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. It has operations in Washington, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Founded on April 24, 1917, as Ballard Savings and Loan, it kept the name of Bothell's Washington Federal Savings and Loan after merging with it in 1958. WFSL demutualized in 1982, and the present holding company structure was adopted in 1995.
Mergers and acquisitions subsequent to 1958 include the following:
- Seattle Federal Savings and Loan, 1971
- First Federal Savings and Loan Association, Mount Vernon, WashingtonMount Vernon, WashingtonMount Vernon is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,743 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the county seat of Skagit County...
, 1978 - United First Federal, Boise, IdahoBoise, IdahoBoise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
, 1987 - Provident Federal Savings and Loan, Boise, 1987
- Northwest Federal Savings and Loan, Boise, 1988
- Freedom Federal Savings and Loan, Corvallis, OregonCorvallis, OregonCorvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
, 1988 - Family Federal Savings and Loan Association, Dallas, OregonDallas, OregonThe city of Dallas is the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 14,583 at the 2010 census.Dallas is located on Rickreall Creek, approximately 15 miles west of Salem, at an altitude of 325 feet above sea level...
, 1990 - First Federal Savings and Loan Association, Idaho Falls, IdahoIdaho Falls, IdahoIdaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
, 1991 - Metropolitan Savings Association, PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and Eugene, OregonEugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, 1991 - First Federal Savings Bank, Salt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City, UtahSalt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, 1993 - West Coast Mutual Savings Bank, Centralia, WashingtonCentralia, WashingtonCentralia is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,336 at the 2010 census.-History:In pioneer days, Centralia was the halfway stopover point for stagecoaches operating between the Columbia River and Seattle. In 1850, J. G. Cochran came from Missouri with his...
, 1996
Mergers and acquisitions in 2000
- First Mutual Bank, Bellevue, WA, 2008
- Horizon Bank, Bellingham, WA, 2010
On May 20, 2003, Washington Federal announced its planned acquisition of the four-branch, Seattle-based United Savings and Loan Bank. United Savings, founded on July 6, 1960, by Robert and Ruth J. Chinn, was the first Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
-owned savings and loan in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The completion of the sale was announced that September. The reported purchase price was $65 million.
WAFED acquired First Mutual Bank of Bellevue, WA. First Mutual Bank has had vast experience in making commercial real estate loans, and operates a wholesale residential department with an emphasis in residential construction lending. This transaction closed in the first quarter of 2008. It is believed that this acquisition will give WAFED a commercial lending ability to compliment its residential real estate lending.
On January 11, 2010, Washington Federal acquired the 18-branch, Bellingham-based Horizon Bank. Horizon Bank was seized by state regulators after the bank failed with assets of 1.3 billion dollars and deposits of 1.2 billion. Horizon Bank marked the first bank that regulators shut down in 2010. Washington Federal was able to purchase these assets at a discounted cost due to the number of risky loans on Horizon Bank's books. This transaction can ultimately cost the FDIC 536 million dollars, almost 50% of the bank's assets. Many of the assets were tied to speculative loans for commercial real estate purchased during the height of the real estate bubble in 2006. When this bubble collapsed, many of these risky loans lost their value. Washington Federal has agreed to absorb 20% of these losses with the remainder being covered by the FDIC. These costs can be reduced as the economy recovers due to rising commercial real estate values. If this occurs the losses by the FDIC would be significantly reduced.
Washington Federal stocks dropped 5.9% on the announcement of this deal due to share holder expectations that a larger acquisition deal would have occurred. This acquisition does not rule out the prospect of future mergers as more banks collapse in 2010 and does not preclude a larger acquisition as share holders expect.