Thursday, October 12, 2000

Pssssst: Want to buy a bank?

The Commercial Federal Bank office at Hy-Vee Food Store in Austin is for sale.

The bank’s parent company, Commercial Federal Corp. of Omaha, Neb., announced this morning that the Austin branch, as well as 36 others in seven states, are on the auction block.

The company is selling the branches and consolidating 12 others as part of a strategic restructuring to strengthen earnings and shareholder value.

"Our Austin branch does not provide the best fit with our overall branch network and service delivery strategy," Monte Deere, Commercial Federal’s first vice president and director of branch delivery, said in a prepared statement.

The bank hopes a new owner is in possession of the Austin branch by the end of the third quarter of 2001. Customer accounts will be transferred to the acquiring bank and customers will be notified of any changes.

Employees at the branch are expected to be offered jobs with the acquiring institution, the company indicated.

"We are grateful for the contributions of our Austin customers and employees to Commercial Federal, and we will make every effort to make this a smooth transition for each and every one of them," Deere added.