Bank of America Corp. has agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. for about $44 billion, or around $29 a share, according to The Wall Street Journal. A deal between the two big financial companies would lift the uncertainty that has shrouded Merrill Lynch since the start of the credit crisis a year ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday evening that the boards of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch agreed to merge. To many observers, Merrill Lynch could be an ideal acquisition for Bank of America. The Charlotte banking giant would get an attractive brokerage network and an extremely valuable stable of high-net worth customers, a fit for its U.S. Trust unit. Bank of America would certainly like the deposits Merrill Lynch has been gathering since it started to offer banking some years ago.
A spokeswoman for Merrill Lynch declined to comment on the report. A spokesman for Bank of America also declined comment.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America has the most deposits of any U.S. bank, while Merrill Lynch is the world's largest and most widely recognized brokerage. A combination of the two will create a global banking giant involved in everything from fixed-income trading to credit card lending to rival Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets.
Some information for this report was provided by Dow Jones, and AP.