Compass of Alabama adds banks

Northwestern Financial Review, Jan 15, 2001

[mergers & acquisitions]

Compass Bancshares Inc., a $20 billion company based in Birmingham, Ala., is preparing to complete its acquisition of FirsTier Corp., a Denver-area $934 million holding company with banks in Colorado and Nebraska.

The stock swap deal, announced on Sept. 5, is valued at $127 million. The merger is expected to be completed in the first quarter. Compass has more than 300 offices in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Colorado and New Mexico. The Alabama company previously entered the Colorado market last April with the purchase of the $300 million MegaBank Financial Corp. in Denver.

FirsTier of Northglenn, Colo., operates the $849 million FirsTier Bank in Colorado and the $85 million Firstate Bank in Kimball, Neb. Once the deal is completed, the banks will change their names to Compass Bank, said Mike Nelson, president of Firstate Bank.

"They just saw a franchise that was attractive to them," Nelson said of the planned merger.

FirsTier and Compass officials first met last spring to discuss a possible merger. Nelson said his customers in Nebraska will benefit through additional services such as increased loan limits, trust services, Internet banking products and international department services.

Since 1963, FirsTier has been owned by the Wiens family of Colorado. Once the merger is completed, Tim Wiens, president of FirsTier Bank will become chairman of Compass Bank in Colorado, Nelson said.

Nelson, a 27-year veteran at Firstate Bank in Nebraska, said his banks' 18 employees will be retained in Kimball and its Elm Creek branch. Kimball is located in the Nebraska panhandle, in the extreme southwestern part of the state. The town of 2,500 is about 25 miles from the Wyoming border.

D. Paul Jones Jr. serves as chairman and CEO of Compass Bancshares.