Bancorp Inc. to buy Chicago-based bank

The Bancorp Inc. of Wilmington said today that it had agreed to buy American Home Bank from the bankrupt subprime mortgage lender American Home Mortgage Holdings Inc. for $7 million to $11 million.

American Home Bank is a federal savings bank in Chicago with $100 million in assets at the end of March, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Bancorp, which has a Delaware charter, said buying American Home will give it a national platform.

"The acquisition of American Home Bank will enhance our platform and regulatory structure to support the continued growth of Bancorp's prepaid card issuing and private client business lines," said Betsy Z. Cohen, Bancorp's chief executive.

Bancorp had $1.76 billion in assets at the end of March. The deal requires approval by various government agencies.    - Harold Brubaker