JPMorgan Chase buys Bear Stearns

Racing against the clock, JPMorgan Chase agreed to buy once-mighty Bear Stearns for just $2 a share Sunday, “in a fire sale deal clearly aimed at stemming broader panic” in the global markets, according to Tom Petruno of The Los Angeles Times.

Bear Stearns stock, which closed at $30 a share Friday, traded at $158 last April. Petruno wrote that the total value of JPMorgan’s deal is about $240 million.

A takeover had been rumored since Friday when Bear Stearns said its liquidity had significantly deteriorated. The Federal Reserve stepped in and negotiators raced to complete the deal Sunday, before Asian markets opened. They hoped to contain drastic declines when U.S. markets opened Monday.

Tweet This! Share on Facebook

Click here to sign up for the Muckety Newsletter

• Bear Stearns bid would mean $100M to Joe Lewis - March 24, 2008
• NY Fed bails out Bear Stearns - March 15, 2008
• Golf and cards consumed too much of Cayne’s final days at Bear Stearns - August 6, 2008
• WaMu seized by federal regulators, sold to JPMorgan Chase - September 26, 2008
• Mortgage mess sinks Wall Street exec - August 6, 2007
• Cayne reported leaving CEO job at Bear Stearns - January 8, 2008
• Muck tracker - 2 acquitted in Bear Stearns case - November 10, 2009
• Ex-Bear Stearns managers indicted on fraud in funds’ collapse - June 20, 2008
• Bear Stearns hedge fund case goes to jury - November 9, 2009
• Obama to pick Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary - November 21, 2008