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WASHINGTON - US BANK Wells Fargo said on Friday it was buying its rival Wachovia for 15.1 billion dollars (S$21.8 billion), in a deal that emerged after Wachovia had been in talks with Citigroup.
Wells Fargo and Wachovia 'signed a definitive agreement for the merger of the two companies' without government assistance, Wells Fargo said in a statement.
It said the deal covered 'all of Wachovia's banking operations in a whole company transaction requiring no financial assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency'.
Wachovia, the fourth largest US bank by assets, had been negotiating a merger with banking giant Citigroup, as Wachovia faced a near collapse in its share price amid a grave financial crisis.
Citigroup late last month had agreed to buy Wachovia's banking operations in a deal that gave the US government a stake in Citigroup.
The Wells Fargo statement said the board at Wachovia had accepted its offer late on Thursday.
'Today's announcement creates one of the strongest financial firms in the world and is great for all Wachovia constituencies,' said Wachovia chief executive Robert Steel.
Under the terms of the transaction, each share of Wachovia common stock will be exchanged for 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock.
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