Two banking mergers were officially completed last night. Bank of America(BAC) completed its 19.4 billion dollar merger with Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch shareholders will receive 0.8595 shares of BAC stock. Wells Fargo closed its 12.7 billion dollar merger with Wachovia. Wachovia shareholders will receive 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo stock. I expect that there will be more layoffs as Bank of America and Wells Fargo aim to reduce costs and eliminate job duplication across all levels. Personally I think that Wells got the better deal because they have doubled in size and gained a major presence on the east coast.
Photo by NCinDC
My parents are shareholders in Wachovia. They’ve been very disappointed in how this bank has gone downhill since their merger with First Union. It’s very sad. This merger hurts Wachovia’s home state of NC’s presence in the financial services industry.
@the weakonomist
I used to bank with First Union. Once they merged with Wachovia, I left the bank. The merger with Wachovia ended up being a terrible mistake.