At least according to the CEO Robert Steel:
Wachovia Corp (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which has been battered by mortgage losses, is "almost done" paring $20 billion of loans and securities from its balance sheet, a process it had hoped to complete by year end, Chief Executive Robert Steel said.
I guess they won't be needing any capital infusions after all and Steel seems to be there to spruce things up. Of course if the housing market gets any worse going into 2009 then all bets are off. There has been some takeover talk also that was contingient on getting rid of that $20 billion in bad loans.
The clean-up would have to come before any buyer would step forward, but there are any number of potential acquirers that would be attracted to Wachovia's presence in the Southeast and California. Among the likely suspects are JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Goldman itself has been rumored as a potential acquirer. It advised Wachovia on its loan portfolio and helped it raise the capital in April. But Wachovia's chairman, Lanty Smith, tried to douse the speculation Thursday, calling it "silly."
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