Merrill 95-Year Run Ends as Bank of America Buys Firm

What a shame, 150 Year old Lehman and 95 Merrill Lynch gone, destroyed in no time by a bunch of greedy speculative idiots-Lou

Merrill 95-Year Run Ends as Bank of America Buys Firm

By Zachary R. Mider

Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co.’s 95-year run as an independent company is coming to an end as Bank of America Corp. completed its acquisition of the broker for about $33 billion in stock.

Bank of America, the biggest U.S. home lender, closed the purchase today, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company said in a PRNewswire statement. Scana Corp., South Carolina’s biggest utility owner, will replace New York-based Merrill Lynch in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Merrill Lynch was founded by Charles E. Merrill in January 1914 and evolved into the world’s biggest brokerage, with an army of 17,000 financial advisers. After more than $50 billion of losses and writedowns tied to the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market, Merrill agreed in September to a sale, escaping the fate of bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

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