JPMorgan May Raise Bid for Bear Stearns, NYT Says (Update1)
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bear stearns, JPMorgan March 24th, 2008March 24 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. may quintuple its takeover offer for Bear Stearns Cos. to more than $1 billion in an effort to win support from employees and shareholders opposed to the deal, the New York Times said.
JPMorgan is in talks to raise its all-stock bid to $10 a share from $2, the Times said, citing unnamed people involved in the negotiations. The Federal Reserve, which helped engineer the takeover after customer withdrawals crippled the New York-based firm, is uncomfortable with any plan that might be perceived as an investor bailout, the report said.
The original bid, more than 90 percent lower than the securities firm’s market value at the start of the month, drew opposition from shareholders led by U.K. billionaire Joseph Lewis. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon met with Bear Stearns employees, who own a third of the company, to seek their support last week.
“If you are seeing stock values overall recover, then it would seem that because of the timing, Bear Stearns shareholders got a very raw deal,” said Jay Moghe, who helps manage $160 million as the Singapore-based head of Opes Prime Asset Management Pte. “It would look quite embarrassing to the Fed now if the situation results in there being a bidder at a higher price, seeing as they have underwritten the deal at $2.”
Tags: bear stearns, JPMorgan
