-Caveat Lector-
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-jp-morgan-bank-one,0,94541.story Report: J.P. Morgan Chase Buying Bank OneBy Associated PressJanuary 14, 2004, 4:36 PM CST CHICAGO -- Bank One Corp.'s shares soared in after-hours trading Wednesday after reports that it was being acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. -- a deal that would merge two of the largest U.S. banks. The acquisition would have a value of about $60 billion, according to The New York Times Web site, which cited executives close to the talks, and The Wall Street Journal's Web site, which cited an unidentified source. Spokesmen for New York-based J.P. Morgan and Chicago's Bank One declined to comment. The deal was to be announced later Wednesday, according to the Journal's source. Shares in Bank One jumped 10 percent in heavy after-hours activity after closing up 61 cents at $45.22 on the New York Stock Exchange. J.P. Morgan shares were down 4 percent in after-hours trading after closing at $39.22, up 32 cents. The combination of J.P. Morgan and Bank One would rival the nation's largest financial institution, Citigroup Inc. Headquartered in New York, Citigroup has assets of about $1.19 trillion and operations in more than 100 countries, according to figures from the American Banker trade daily. If approved by regulators, a J.P. Morgan Chase-Bank One merger would create an institution with $1.1 trillion in assets. The Journal report said Bank One shareholders would receive 1.32 J.P. Morgan shares for each share they own. Bank One chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, it said, would take over as chief executive of the merged company in two years. An acquisition of Bank One doesn't come as much of a surprise. After Bank of America Corp. announced in October it planed to merge with FleetBoston Financial Corp., which would create the nation's second-biggest banking company, there immediately was talk that Bank One could be a candidate for a similar move. Brock Vandervliet, an analyst at Lehman Brothers, told CNBC that he had predicted such a deal just last week. He said that J.P. Morgan -- which has heavy involvement in volatile businesses such as investment banking and mortgages -- would benefit from the addition of Bank One's retail franchise. The combination, he said, would help stabilize income. He noted that Dimon had approached J.P. Morgan about a merger a year ago but had been rebuffed. At the time, J.P. Morgan was struggling with bad commercial loans and regulatory issues related to lending to Enron. Now, he said, "the financials have improved." In response to suggestions that Dimon was expected to lead the combined banks after a year or two, Vandervliet said: "He has a very clear idea of what the company is and where it should go." The Federal Reserve still must approve the merger of Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., and FleetBoston. Shareholders of record will vote on the deal Jan. 26 in Charlotte. The combined bank would have assets of about $966 billion, according to the American Banker trade daily. * __ AP Business Writer Eileen Alt Powell in New York contributed to this report. * __ On the Net: www.jpmorganchase.com Copyright � 2004, The Associated Press Improved archives! Searching Chicagotribune.com archives back to 1985 is cheaper and easier than ever. New prices for multiple articles can bring your cost as low as 30 cents an article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/archives Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om |
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