BANKING: Transamerica v. Eccles

When California's mammoth Transamerica holding company sold the last of its interest in Bank of America in 1952, no one was more gratified than tart-tongued Marriner S. Eccles. As chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Eccles had pushed divorce for nearly ten years. Eccles' family's First Security Corp. had long reigned as "the largest banking institution in the intermountain states" of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. After the divorce of Transamerica and Bank of America, it looked as if neither would be able to invade that territory.

Last month, however, Transamerica nudged into Eccles' backyard; it bought three banks and four branches (for about $2,000,000) in Idaho from Walter E. Cosgriff, longtime Eccles rival and onetime RFC director. Last week Transamerica went onto the doorstep; it agreed to buy Salt Lake City's Walker Bank & Trust Co., Utah's oldest and second biggest bank, for $200 a share, will probably end by paying $14 million.

Transamerica, which already owns banks in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico, pushed into Idaho and Utah in a race against time. Most bankers expect sales of independent banks to out-of-state holding companies to be banned under legislation now pending in Congress. However, said Frank N. Belgrano Jr., Transamerica's 60-year-old president and chairman, Transamerica's recent purchases had been suggested by local banks that wanted to sell. This week Transamerica's traders moved on to Ogden, Utah, Marriner Eccles' home base, to discuss a deal with the Bank of Utah. Next stop: Denver, where Belgrano has made an offer for Central Bank & Trust Co., Colorado's fifth biggest.