mergers

Spanish banking giant Banco Santander has pulled through the credit crisis with a much higher profile than ever before. I was initially skeptical that the firm was hiding huge losses at it had exposure in Spain, the UK and the US, all…

Fortis, the nationalised Belgo-Dutch bank and largest private employer in Belgium. This is a good thing as I have a distinct preference for mergers over bankruptcy or long-term nationalisation as a way to hep consolidate and rationalize…

The deal everyone first expected to happen is now likely to proceed. Wells Fargo is set to buy Wachovia. Earlier this week, we heard that Wachovia was to be acquired by Citigroup, the beleaguered corporate behemoth that has written down…

The price tag was less than one would have liked, but these are desperate times for sellers of financial assets. Lehman Brothers secured a sale of its crown jewel investment management division for $2.15 billion in a sale to private equity…

Wachovia Corporation has agreed to be bought out by Citigroup in a deal supported by the U.S. government. Exact terms of the deal are still forthcoming, but this could be seen as a best case scenario for a bank which was increasingly under…

JP Morgan Chase has taken over the deposit taking subsidiary of Washington Mutual. The transaction is effective immediately, meaning it has closed. This is the biggest deal in FDIC activity yet. Note: I originally heard this story just…

When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went bust, a number of major players were stung as the value of Fannie and Freddie preferred shares plummeted. Principal amongst these players was Gateway Bank, which had a huge percentage of bank capital…

Just in case you thought the crisis was over, I have to remind you that there are still firms out there that are very concerned about their futures. Principal among them is the UK buy-to-let specialist Bradford & Bingley.The word on the…

Lloyds TSB has announced that it will buy rival HBOS for 232 pence a share. Back in May 2007, just over a year ago, HBOS shares were trading for almost £17 each. However, HBOS closed trading today at £1.47, sustaining a loss of over 90% in…

As we plan for another day in financial turmoil, I have to admit to preferring financial services industry consolidation through merger to bankruptcy. I was just reading FT Alphaville's post on a proposed Lloyds TSB takeover of HBOS (the…