4 Officers to Be Laid Off in St. Louis Bank's Merger with Union

Four executive vice presidents at Magna Group Inc. will lose their jobs once the company merges with Union Planters Corp., according to Magna officials, and a fifth has chosen to retire.

Robert Mathias, 45, now in charge of credit administration for Magna, is the only executive vice president at the St. Louis banking company expected to take a job in the post-merger company, Magna executives said.

The deal is to close July 1.

In an interview, Mr. Mathias said he is to be offered a senior credit officer post for the Midwest region.

He would join Magna chairman and chief executive officer G. Thomas Andes and senior executive vice president Ronald A. Buerges as the only top executives to stay on past the deal's closing.

Mr. Andes, 55, is to be vice chairman of Union Planters, and Mr. Buerges, 37, is to get a yet-to-be-determined title.

These Magna executive vice presidents would have no role in the combined company: Linda K. Fabel, 55, who now heads retail banking; Gary D. Hemmer, 44, financial markets chief; Robert S. Kahler, 46, chief financial officer; Bradford W. Koeneman, 40, who heads investor relations and marketing; and Robert M. Olson Jr., 43, who runs operations and technology.

Ms. Fabel, who will retire, said she turned down an offer from Mr. Andes to find a new job within Union Planters.

"I decided not to start my career over with a new company," she said. The other executives were not offered posts.

Mr. Andes said he regrets that the officers weren't offered jobs in the merged company. "They've been with me for a number of years, and they were all hand-selected by myself," he said. "It's just one of those things, part of an acquisition. You have downsizing and cost-cutting."

As part of the expense savings in the merger, about half of Magna's 60 holding company employees are to be laid off, Mr. Andes said.

A St. Louis analyst said he was not surprised by the moves. "Magna had a lot of good people," said Timothy Willi of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. "They were just on the wrong side of the buy-sell equation."

The executives are all to get severance packages that have not yet been made public, Mr. Andes said.

Three executives exercised stock options last month that netted them gains after sales. Ms. Fabel sold $947,000 worth of Magna stock; Mr. Olson, $730,00 worth; and Mr. Hemmer, $697,000, according to CDA/Investnet, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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