NEW YORK - Bear Stearns, fresh from narrowly avoiding collapse, is nearing a deal in which it could be bought by J.P. Morgan Chase for some 2.2 billion dollars, The Wall Street Journal reported online Sunday.
The report, citing unamed people familiar with the discussions, said that "all sides were pushing hard to complete an agreement before financial markets in Asia open for Monday trading."
The report in the US finanacial daily added: "While terms of the deal were still being hammered out Sunday afternoon, Bear Stearns could fetch roughly 2.2 billion dollars (US), or slightly less than 20 dollars a share."
That compares to over 50 dollars at the market's opening Friday.
Bear Stearns, among the hardest hit by the collapse of the US subprime, or high-risk, mortgage market, said Friday it was getting an emergency loan from JPMorgan Chase backed by the Federal Reserve after its liquidity position had "significantly deteriorated."
The Fed meanwhile pledged "to provide liquidity as necessary to promote the orderly functioning of the financial system," -- a statement that highlighted concerns about the credit squeeze and its wider impact on the banks.
The Fed has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system and slashed interest rates by 2.25 percentage points since September to battle the credit crunch that is threatening the US economy with recession.
President George W. Bush last month signed a 168-billion-dollar economic stimulus and the government and banks have introduced a number of initiatives to help homeowners faced with losing their homes amid tightening credit, job cuts and a slowing economy.
dd/mdl/sg
03/16/2008 20:19 GMT