Charter One To Buy Albank

Charter One Financial Inc., a Cleveland-based thrift holding company, is expanding its franchise in New York State through the acquisition of Albank Financial Corp., Albany, N.Y., in a deal valued at $1 billion.Charter One first entered New York through the acquisition of Rochester Community Savings Bank in October 1997. There is no overlap between the two branch networks. In the first five months of 1998, Charter One has originated $150 million of mortgages in New York, up from $44 million (by RSCB) for the same period in 1997. Charles John Koch, chairman and chief executive of Charter One, said the two institutions have complementary asset-generation capabilities, with Charter One strong in residential and consumer lending, while Albank is expanding its commercial loan assets and business checking products.