I can't imagine what is going through the mind of Joe Lewis right now. Lewis
spent nearly $900 million amassing an 8% stake in BSC late last year. I think the whole thing is somewhat ironic, considering
today's news, and the following from the
UK Times article:
Mr Lewis’s investment came to light as Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan, said that he foresaw “a huge amount of big [banking] mergers in the US and Germany” in the wake of multibillion losses on mortgage-backed securities.
And from
Bloomberg:
Shareholders of New York-based Bear Stearns will get stock in JPMorgan equivalent to about $2 a share, compared with $30 at the close on March 14, the two companies said in a statement today. The U.S. Federal Reserve will provide financing for the transaction, including support for as much as $30 billion of Bear Stearns's ``less-liquid assets.''
I think Mr. Dimon was on to something.
