Wells Fargo& Co., Bank of America complete big acquisitions - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America has closed onits $19.4 billion purchas e of Merrill Lynch & Co. of New making Bank of America thelargest U.S. bank, with $2.7 trillionm in assets. And Wells has bought Charlotte, N.C.-basefd Wachovia for $12.7 billion. The combinesd bank is the nation’s fourth-largest by Together, Wells and Wachovia have more than 6,60 0 outlets in 39 states and D.C. Wellsd and Wachovia customers will immediately have free use ofboth banks’ San Francisco-based Wells (NYSE:WFC) agreed to buy Wachovia on Oct. 3, toppinfg a bid by (NYSE:C) for parts of In late September, regulators had pushedr Wachovia to finda buyer.
The Charlotte bank had struggles throughoutthe year, crippled in large part by housingy loans it inherited through its 2006 acquisitio n of Golden West Financial Corp. of Calif. Wells says it expects to writedown $71.4e billion in assets acquired from Meanwhile, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) has said it will cut 35,0000 jobs in the next three yearw as it absorbs Merrill