California Federal Bank

California Federal Bank, the Los Angeles thrift owned by financier Ronald Perelman, is considering an initial public offering of stock early next year, the institution's chairman said Tuesday. "We're strongly considering it, but it's not definite," said Gerald Ford, CalFed's chairman and chief executive. The offering, which could occur as soon as January or February, is expected to raise about $700 million, representing 15% to 20% of the thrift's common stock.

The U.S. attorney for Northern California charged 28 former bank employees from the San Francisco area with embezzlement of bank funds. U.S. Atty. Michael Yamaguchi said the charges are part of an ongoing program to deter theft and fraud within financial institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jonathan Schmidt, a spokesman for Yamaguchi, said the 28 people charged had allegedly embezzled a total of $115,000 over a year or so.

San Francisco-based First Nationwide Holdings Inc. said it completed its purchase of Los Angeles-based Cal Fed Bancorp and its California Federal Bank unit. The merged bank will be called California Federal Bank. First Nationwide Holdings' name will not change, nor will that of the bank's mortgage unit, First Nationwide Mortgage Corp.

Turning up the competitive pressure in the state's thrift industry and portending further mergers, California Federal Bank's parent company agreed Monday to a $1.2-billion takeover by First Nationwide Holdings that would create the state's third-largest thrift. The proposed deal, the second for a California-based thrift in a week, would create an institution with $31 billion in assets and a statewide branch system.

California Federal Bancorp could reach an agreement to be acquired by First Nationwide Bank as early as Monday in a deal valued between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. If consummated, the takeover would create the nation's third-largest thrift institution with assets of $31 billion and a statewide network of branches, according to Sheshunoff Information Services Inc.

Monday's announcement by Washington Mutual Inc. that it will take over American Savings Bank of Irvine could be the start of a wave of mergers in the state's thrift industry, which analysts and investors have been waiting on for years.

A mortgage company that won a $31.5-million verdict against California Federal Bank and its one-time Orange County building arm was awarded nearly $1.5 million more Friday in interest and court costs. Weyerhaeuser Mortgage Co. in Woodland Hills won the jury award in June after a trial on its fraud and civil racketeering lawsuit against Cal Fed, a Los Angeles savings and loan. The jury awarded $31.5 million on the fraud claim and $6.