FleetBoston Financial Corp and Bank of America Corp shareholders approved a US$47 billion merger Wednesday that would create the No. 3 bank in the US and reportedly result in up to 13,000 job cuts.
More than 67 percent of Bank of America shareholders approved the deal in a meeting that lasted less than an hour. At a FleetBoston meeting held at the same time, 98 percent of shareholders gave their blessing to the deal.
"I want to thank the stockholders for their vote of confidence in this company," Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis, who will lead the combined bank, said following the vote.
The approvals had been expected following last week's decision by the Federal Reserve that the merger was not anti-competitive or caused too much of a concentration of banking resources.
With about 5,700 branches, the new bank's footprint would reach from California through the South and up to New England. The new bank would have assets estimated at US$966 billion, trailing only Citigroup and another planned bank megamerger between Chicago-based Bank One and J.P. Morgan Chase.
In trading Wednesday, FleetBoston shares gained US$0.25 to US$44.59 on the New York Stock Exchange, where shares of Bank of America advanced US$0.35 to US$80.46.
A Bank of America spokeswoman said Wednesday she could not confirm a Wall Street Journal story that the bank plans to cut up to 13,000 jobs after completing the acquisition. The cuts would come through layoffs and attrition from the operations of both banks and amount to about 7 percent of their combined work force of 181,000, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified people it said were familiar with the plans.
Last week, an analyst predicted that Bank of America might have to cut as many as 11,000 jobs to attain the level of cost reductions pledged by chief executive Ken Lewis. Lewis has said he expects to achieve about US$1.6 billion in cost savings by the end of next year.
The bank has said that cutting jobs is necessary to give investors the kind of returns they expect to see from such a large merger.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
RSS