Wells Fargo to Buy North County Bancorp

Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to buy North County Bancorp for about $112 million in stock, or $21 a share, acquiring nine branches in San Diego and Riverside counties. Escondido-based North County has $349 million in assets and 250 employees and operates a loan production office in the Seattle area. San Francisco-based Wells also said it will buy closely held real estate investment bank Eastdil Realty to enter the real estate advisory business. Terms weren’t disclosed. The purchase price represents a 7% premium to North County’s closing share price Wednesday. North County shares, which have risen about 55% this year, rose 25 cents to close at $19.88 on Nasdaq. Wells Fargo shares rose $1.06 to close at $39.63 on the New York Stock Exchange.