A Bear Sterns está a voar neste início da sessão, a ganhar mais de 50%. Já vale quase 4 vezes mais do que a oferta inicial da JPMorgan que fez agora uma nova proposta para cerca de 10 dólares por acção.
"Bear Stearns Rises as JPMorgan Moves to Increase Bid (Update5)
By Yalman Onaran and Joseph Galante
March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bear Stearns Cos. surged almost 70 percent in New York trading as JPMorgan Chase & Co. moved closer to announcing an increased takeover offer of more than $1 billion, four times the amount the bank previously agreed to pay for the crippled securities firm.
Bear Stearns rose $3.97 to $9.94 at 9:32 a.m. in New York, before trading in the shares was halted. JPMorgan has agreed to boost its all-stock bid to about $10 a share from $2.52, and may strike a deal with Bear Stearns's board as soon as today to purchase about 40 percent of the company in a transaction that wouldn't require shareholder approval, a person with knowledge of the discussions said. The Times reported the new terms earlier today, citing unnamed people involved in the negotiations.
The original bid, more than 90 percent lower than the securities firm's market value at the start of the month, drew opposition from shareholders led by U.K. billionaire Joseph Lewis. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon met with Bear Stearns employees, who own a third of the company, to seek their support last week. The Federal Reserve, which helped engineer the takeover after customers and lenders deserted the New York-based firm, is uncomfortable with any plan that might be perceived as an investor bailout, the Times reported.
``Jamie would be happier to pay $10 rather than $2 to keep his new employees happy,'' said George Ball, who's worked on Wall Street for more than 40 years and now leads brokerage firm Sanders Morris Harris Inc. ``But it's hard for the Fed to swallow politically.''
Fed's $30 Billion
JPMorgan spokesman Joseph Evangelisti declined to comment. Bear Stearns spokesman Russell Sherman didn't return phone calls seeking comment.
JPMorgan, the third-largest U.S. bank by assets, agreed March 16 to buy Bear Stearns in an all-stock deal that values the securities firm at $2.52 a share, or $366 million, based on the March 21 closing price. The collapse of Bear Stearns ranks along with Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. as the biggest in Wall Street history.
Bear Stearns climbed 12 percent to $5.96 on March 20 in New York on speculation JPMorgan, the third-largest U.S. bank, might raise its bid or risk prompting rival offers.
The stock, which peaked at $171.51 last year, closed at $30 two days before Chief Executive Officer Alan Schwartz, 58, was forced to accept JPMorgan's terms or face bankruptcy after customers and lenders abandoned the broker. The Fed agreed to provide as much as $30 billion to JPMorgan to get the deal done.
Merger Agreement
Lewis and James ``Jimmy'' Cayne, Bear Stearns's 74-year-old former chief executive officer, are trying to recruit investors to counter JPMorgan's offer, the New York Post reported last week, citing people familiar with the situation.
The two have approached private equity firms including J.C. Flowers & Co. and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.; banks including Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc, Credit Suisse Group and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc; sovereign wealth funds and China's Citic Securities Co., according to the Post.
JPMorgan may be required to guarantee Bear's trades even if shareholders vote down the takeover and seek another bidder, because of a sentence ``inadvertently included'' in the merger agreement, the Times said, citing a person briefed on the talks.
Bear Stearns employees, directors and lawyers are prohibited from seeking an alternative transaction, according to the agreement, which was filed with regulators last week.
Bear Stearns's financial troubles began in July, when two hedge funds that invested in securities tied to U.S. subprime mortgages collapsed. The firm, once the biggest underwriter of U.S. mortgage bonds, had to bail out the funds and take possession of many of the instruments. "
(in
www.bloomberg.com)
Enviado: 25/3/2008 18:15
