Fed clears BNP Paribas to buy California bank

The Federal Reserve today cleared the $2.4 billion purchase by France's largest listed bank, BNP Paribas, of United California Bank, a unit of Japan's UFJ Holdings Inc.

The deal, first announced in December, is intended to bolster UFJ's financial health and extend BNP's U.S. activities into Southern California. The French bank in December took full control of BancWest Corp., parent company of First Hawaiian Bank. Its Bank of the West subsidiary operates branches mainly in north and central California.

With the latest acquisition, BNP Paribas will control $31 billion in assets in the United States and serve 1.5 million customers from around 370 branches. The deal will make BancWest the 29th largest U.S. banking organization, the Fed said.

ResortQuest Intl. adds 2 isle management pacts

ResortQuest International has expanded its presence in Hawaii with the addition of two new management contracts for its subsidiary, Aston Hotels & Resorts Hawaii.

Aston has been selected by LaeRoc Partners LLC of Manhattan Beach, Calif., to manage the newly renamed 255-room Aston Waikiki Parkside Hotel on Oahu. Aston has also been chosen by Stanford Carr Development to manage Waikoloa Colony Villas, a 168-unit luxury resort condominium community under development on the Big Island.

A&B sells industrial site in Dallas to Colorado firm

Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has sold a seven-building distribution complex in a suburban Dallas industrial park to Colo- rado-based real estate investment trust ProLogis Trust.

The buildings, in the Great Southwest Industrial park in Grand Prairie, total 843,000 square feet of space and represented about 21 percent of A&B's 4 million square feet of leaseable area on the mainland. A&B bought the buildings in 1990, around the time the company began to diversify its real estate portfolio. At the time, the complex had nine buildings, but two were sold in 1998.

A&B has recently focused its buying power on Hawaii, having purchased a 1.6-acre development parcel in Waikiki, which is slated for a condominium high-rise, and the leasehold Kaneohe Bay Shopping Center, along with several other properties. The firm has also formed local joint ventures with developers U.J. "Rick" Rainalter Jr. and Armstrong Builders Ltd.

American Savings Bank opens Pearlridge branch

American Savings Bank has opened its 71st branch, in Pearlridge Uptown near JC Penney. As one of ASB's "Express Branch" models, it is highly automated, with an ATM that can cash checks down to the penny, a merchant express center with a merchant depository and various business services, and an Internet-connected terminal that lets customers bank online.

Staff is there to help customers 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The savings bank, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., said the branch is designed to service tenants and patrons of the shopping mall and nearby businesses.

In other news . . .

SEATTLE >> What does $60,000 buy you in the transportation world these days?

Well, there's always a self-balancing scooter.

Amazon.com Inc. is auctioning the first three consumer Segway Human Transporters, the revolutionary motorized scooters unveiled with much fanfare by inventor Dean Kamen late last year. The machines went on the block at midnight Tuesday with a first bid of $1.75, and by late this morning had attracted hundreds of bids, with the top ones for each device hitting $51,200, $60,000 and $60,106. The auctions close on March 28.