CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Wachovia Corp. and First Union Corp. have completed their long-planned $14.3 billion merger, creating the fourth-largest U.S. bank.
The merger puts to rest a nasty proxy battle between First Union and Atlanta's SunTrust Banks Inc. for Wachovia, according to an Associated Press report.
The new company will trade under the ticker symbol WB on the NYSE and be based in Charlotte. The company, which adopted the name Wachovia Corp., also announced the individuals who will serve on its 18-member board of directors.
They include: White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, one of nine former First Union board members; and Robert Ingram, one of nine former Wachovia directors and the chief executive of pharmaceutical operations of GlaxoSmithKline PLC, a pharmaceutical research and development company.
On April 16, First Union and Wachovia announced plans to merge in a stock swap. A month later, SunTrust launched an unsolicited takeover bid and Wachovia's 140,000 shareholders were inundated with letters and advertisements from all three banks.
The heated proxy battle finally came to an end last month when Wachovia shareholders approved the First Union merger.
Wachovia will be the nation's fourth-largest bank, with $328.6 billion in assets as of March 31. It will have 19 million customers and 88,000 employees. The new Wachovia Corp. expects eventually to cut 7,000 jobs -- about half through attrition -- and close about 325 branches.
Already, the company is offering surcharge-free access to a combined network of about 5,000 ATMs to both First Union and Wachovia customers. Foreign fees are also being waived; so First Union customers will not incur any fees to use Wachovia ATMs and vice versa.
