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BBVA's (BBV) U.S. Compass unit, after purchasing $12 billion in assets from Guaranty Bank in Texas, will become the No. 4 bank in terms of deposits in that state, and the No. 15 bank in terms of deposits in the U.S., the Spanish bank said in a release Saturday.

BBVA said it is assuming $11.5 billion in deposits from Guaranty, while the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation agreed to absorb potential losses on $11 billion in that portfolio after it had decided to shut down the ailing bank.

After the purchase of the Guaranty assets, BBVA Compass will incorporate 164 new branches with 300,000 clients. That will boost the number of its U.S. branches to 750 across seven states in the southern U.S. from Florida to California, a state in which BBVA Compass will have 58 branches.

In Texas, BBVA Compass will increase its market share in deposits to 6.4% from 4.9% before the purchase, BBVA said. BBVA after the acquisition will have about $49 billion in deposits in the U.S.

Thanks to its risk-averse culture, BBVA has weathered the global financial crisis reasonably well, putting it in position to pick up pieces of banks that won't survive. Largely avoiding trade in complex derivatives and toxic instruments, BBVA stuck to the more solid business of taking deposits and making loans.

Also, Spain forced banks to build up capital cushions during the years of plenty. That has helped them ride out the crisis so far with little government aid.

"The successful completion of the acquisition of Guaranty is a convincing proof of the solidity and stability of BBVA Compass," Jose Maria Garcia Meyer, country manager of BBVA USA and chairman of BBVA Compass, is quoted as saying in the release.

BBVA has signed a loss sharing agreement with the FDIC under which FDIC will assume the first 80% of the first $2.3 billion of possible losses, and 95% of possible losses above that limit.

Compass Chief Executive Manolo Sanchez said the bank hopes to complete the integration of Guaranty Bank into its operational systems and platforms by early 2010.

-By Bernd Radowitz, Dow Jones Newswires, +34-618 526 915, djmadrid@dowjones.com.