Street Awaits Alliance’s Alliance: Competitor’s Recently Signed Deal May Push Bank into Making Move

Alliance Bancorp, Inc. is close to inking a takeout now that its competition has gone down consolidation lane. At presstime, Alliance closed at $24.38 per share, up roughly 20% this month. Expectation of a takeout for Alliance, which has $2 billion in assets, has been fueled by the recent announcement that its peer, St. Paul Bancorp, Inc., will be acquired by Charter One Financial, Inc. A proxy contest by activist Alliance shareholder La Salle Financial Partners to gain three seats on the company’s 15-member staggered board also fanned the flames. La Salle’s goal is to ply the company toward a sale (See M&AR, 5/10/99).