ABOUT THIS COMPANY

ABOUT THIS COMPANY

Beyond America

Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, with customers in more than 150 countries.  The company has business relationships with more than 80 percent of the Global Fortune 500.  And as of the beginning of 2009, it could boast about making one of the most high-profile acquisitions in banking history.

In September 2008, Bank of America made just about every headline in the world, announcing that it would buy New York-based investment bank Merrill Lynch.  On January 1, 2009, the bank acquired Merrill Lynch in exchange for common and preferred stock with a value of $29.1 billion.  BofA, which called the purchase "a great opportunity for our shareholders," expects to achieve $7 billion in pre-tax expense savings by 2012.  When the deal closed in early 2009, it made BofA the biggest U.S. bank in terms of assets, with more than $2 trillion.  It also made the combined firm the largest brokerage firm in the world, with about 16,000 financial advisors; one of the leading investment banking advisory firms, with significant operations in M&A advisory as well as debt and equity underwriting; and one of the world’s top wealth management firms, with Merrill Lynch’s nearly 50 percent stake in U.S.-based investment management company BlackRock.