STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 19, 2001
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Months of contentious fighting over ownership of Wachovia Corp. ended on Aug. 3 when its shareholders approved a $14.3 billion merger with First Union Corp., causing rival SunTrust Banks Inc. to admit defeat, according to an Associated Press report.
The new bank -- which will retain the Wachovia name and be based in Charlotte -- will be the nation's fourth-largest with $328.6 billion in assets as of March 31, 19 million customers on the East Coast and 90,000 employees.
The companies expect the merger to be complete in the third quarter. Wachovia Chairman L.M. ``Bud' Baker Jr. will become chairman of the new Wachovia, while First Union Chairman Ken Thompson will be president and chief executive officer.
"I think what we've done here is look into the future and defined a path that will give our shareholders significant growth,' Baker said.
The official proxy vote count won't be released for two to three weeks, though Baker said the approval margin was in "the range of 3 to 1.' SunTrust is not challenging the preliminary results.
On April 16, First Union and Wachovia announced plans to merge in a stock swap. A month later, SunTrust unveiled its own unsolicited takeover offer. Wachovia's 140,000 shareholders were bombarded in the ensuing months with letters and advertisements from all three banks.
Now that SunTrust is out of the picture, First Union and Wachovia officials plan to move quickly to combine the companies. They say it will likely take up to three years to fully integrate the two banks. No branches will be closed in the first year.
The two banks are ready to name 100 top executives and will sell 38 bank branches to satisfy federal regulators.
Eventual plans are to cut 7,000 jobs -- about half through attrition -- and close about 325 branches. SunTrust had argued in its solicitations that its merger with Wachovia would have meant fewer job cuts and branch closings.
