Mortgage Banker Buys Goldwater Bank in Arizona

Kent Wiechert, owner of Weststar Mortgage in Albuquerque, N.M., has acquired Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The $103 million-asset Goldwater did not disclose the terms of its sale, which had been in the works for about a year. The bank said in a press release Monday that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had recently signed off on the deal.

"I credit the perseverance of the bank's staff, unwavering will and dedication of the bank's executive leadership team and the resolve of the board … coupled with the focus of the OCC's Special Supervision Division, who refused to let the consent order issued in 2010 be the final chapter in the bank's story," Julie Merhege, the bank's president, said in the press release.

Goldwater Bank was formed with a goal of serving affluent households around Scottsdale. At one point, the bank had an in-house concierge who could do everything from finding a personal shopper to booking a private jet.

Weststar, meanwhile, originates retail mortgage loans in more than 30 states. The company is on track to originate more than $1 billion in loans this year.

"We are very excited about this new affiliation, and look forward to offering clients even more products and services through our new relationship with Goldwater Bank," Wiechert said in the release.

Weststar had a deal in 2013 to buy the $48 million-asset Sunrise Bank of Albuquerque from Capitol Bancorp, but the transaction fell through. Sunrise Bank was eventually sold to Talmer Bancorp as part of a bankruptcy sale, though Talmer subsequently sold it to Grants State Bank.