NATIONAL BRIEFING
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BANKING
Regulators Close Another Bank
First Georgia Community Bank of Jackson was closed by regulators, the 23rd U.S. bank seized this year, as mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures surge to records amid a deepening recession.
First Georgia, with $237.5 million in assets and $197.4 million in deposits, was shut by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was named receiver. United Bank of Zebulon, Ga., will assume First Georgia's deposits and open the failed bank's four offices southeast of Atlanta tomorrow as United branches, the FDIC said.
United Bank will pay a premium of 0.8 percent to assume the failed bank's deposits, the FDIC said, and is buying about $60.6 million of its assets, with the FDIC retaining the rest for later disposition. The closure will cost the FDIC's deposit insurance fund, which is supported by fees on insured banks, $72 million.
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Investors Back Merrill Takeover
Shareholders of both companies approved Merrill Lynch's sale to Bank of America, a move that would create the nation's largest financial services firm.
Under terms of the transaction, Bank of America would exchange 0.8595 of its common shares for each Merrill Lynch common share. Based on Bank of America's closing price of $14.34 Thursday, the deal was valued at just less than $20 billion; the plunge in value since the deal was announced, at $50 billion, reflects the devastating losses in financial-sector stocks since then.
European Union antitrust regulators on Friday also cleared the transaction.
The deal is expected to close by the end of the year, pending regulatory approvals.
RETAIL
Best Buy Opens Store in Mexico
Best Buy has opened its second-largest store worldwide in Mexico. The event came weeks after Best Buy cut its 2009 revenue outlook, following a sharp drop in global sales.
Best Buy has attributed slow international sales to the strong U.S. dollar and weakening local currencies abroad. But the electronics chain is faring better than its major competitor, Circuit City, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on Nov. 10.
