Research Paper on:
Merger of Wachovia and First Union Banks

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
many economic factors to consider. Some of the topics include the corporate culture and personnel integration that are involved in any merger, the market concentration, and employee morale when  a merger takes place. There are economic market concentrations to consider as well as product expansion and scale economies. Funding costs and production costs are further considerations.  This is a well-researched paper that includes many topics that are related to this and any other merger. THE MERGER OF FIRST UNION AND WACHOVIA First Union Corporation planned  their $13.4 billion buyout of Wachovia Corporation in April 2001. Both banks were said to be pleased with the merger, and L.M. "Bud" Baker, chairman and chief executive of  Wachovia commented that "the only question was how it would be done in a way that made sense. Our cultures are very close. Our strategic plans are similar. ... All  things fit together extremely well" (Downey & Tannenbaum PG, 2001). Apparently this merger was better planned than mergers of the past in which stock prices fell and shareholders lost money  as the cost of shares was driven down. First Union had made some troubled purchases in the past including that of The Money Store and CoreStates Financial Corporation (Downey  and Tannenbaum, 2001). The question on everyones mind was what was in this buyout for Wachovia. First Union got a seemingly excellent price at "just 7 percent higher than  its trading price at the time of the announcement" (Downey & Tannenbaum PG, 2001) which makes First Union walking away with a very good deal indeed. Also in the  books for First Union in completing this merger is the immediate growth it will see. The merger will see the combined banks retaining the Wachovia name but having