CHICAGO -- BankAmerica Corp. completed the acquisition of Continental Bank Corp., boosting its corporate banking business and gaining a Midwest expansion platform.
Under the terms of the transaction, completed late Wednesday, investors exchanged Continental common shares for either 0.7993 share of BankAmerica common or $38.30 in cash. The purchase price totaled $1.98 billion, or about 124% of Continental's midyear book value.
Richard M. Rosenberg, chairman and chief executive of San Francisco-based BankAmerica, said Continental's clients will benefit from BankAmerica's "size, financial stature, and international capabilities," while BankAmerica will gain "a significantly expanded presence in national markets, particularly in the Midwest."
BankAmerica's stock fell 50 cents on Thursday to close at $48.875.
The $21.6 billion-asset Continental has been rechristened Bank of America Illinois, and the unit's former vice chairman, William M. Goodyear, has assumed the duties of chairman and chief executive.
BankAmerica earlier projected that the deal would have a neutral effect on earnings per share in the first year after its completion, becoming accretive thereafter.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BankAmerica estimated it would take a $10 million pretax restructuring charge in conjunction with the merger.
