To: ynot who wrote (18663 ) 8/5/1999 9:25:00 AM From: AlienTech Respond to
Wells Fargo (WFC) 37 15/16 closed: After the close yesterday, this big bank got a little bigger as it announced it would be acquiring First Place Financial Corp. (FPLF) of New Mexico, and its subsidiaries, for 4.6 mln shares of its common stock in exchange for all of the stock of FPLF. Shares of First Place Financial Corp. were halted a short time ago-- only it was not the First Place Financial Corp. one would expect to be halted. Instead, First Place Financial Corp. (FPFC) of Ohio was halted as the company, which bears the same name but has no relationship with FPLF, clarified for its shareholders that it was not the targeted institution. Should note, however, that initial press releases were accurate in reporting which First Place Financial Corp. was actually being acquired. In any event, the acquisition will help the "new" Wells Fargo, which was formed from the merger of Norwest and Wells Fargo in November 1998, build its presence in what the company correctly deems to be "a vibrant regional trade area." Based on Wells Fargo's closing price, the deal is currently valued at $174.513 mln-- a mere drop in the bucket compared to some of the mega-mergers seen last year in the financial sector, but there is somewhat of a discount associated with that price tag as FPLF ended its most recent quarter with $66.5 mln in cash. Obviously, this acquisition report isn't going to set the banking stocks on fire today, but it is newsworthy nonetheless given that the pace of consolidation has slowed considerably in the banking group as individual banks focus on their readiness for the Y2K changeover. In fact, the news probably won't help WFC much either as it, and other financial stocks, continue to grapple with concerns over rising interest rates that have been clearly refleced in their stock prices. YTD, WFC is down 5.0%, but it has dropped 16.3% since reaching an all-time high on July 9. - PJO
