Wells Fargo Acquisition Approved: Wells Fargo &...

Wells Fargo Acquisition Approved: Wells Fargo & Co. received Office of Thrift Supervision approval to buy Great American Bank’s 130 California branches for $491 million. The regulators’ approval was the last obstacle facing the deal first announced last July. The first phase of the sale, including branches in San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties, will close today, Wells Fargo said. Wells Fargo said it plans no layoffs among the 1,900 Great American employees it is absorbing, even though the San Francisco-based bank plans to close seven of the 64 Great American branches it is acquiring in San Diego County. The OTS also approved Great American’s capital plan, giving it until 1994 to raise its capital levels to minimum regulatory requirements.