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Wachovia Corporation
USINFO | 2013-08-16 10:24
Wachovia (former NYSE ticker symbol WB) was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States based on total assets. Wachovia provided a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. At its height, it was one of the largest providers of financial services in the United States, operating financial centers in 21 states and Washington, D.C., with locations from Connecticut to Florida and west to California. Wachovia provided global services through more than 40 offices around the world. The purchase of Wachovia by Wells Fargo and Company was completed on December 31, 2008. Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia after a government-forced sale to avoid a failure of Wachovia.
Starting in 2009, the Wachovia brand was absorbed into the Wells Fargo brand in a process that lasted three years. On October 15, 2011, the Wachovia brand was retired when the last bank branches in North Carolina were converted to Wells Fargo.
Business lines
One Wells Fargo Center, formerly One Wachovia Center. The former corporate headquarters of Wachovia in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The company was organized into four divisions: General Bank (retail, small business, and commercial customers), Wealth Management (high net worth, personal trust, and insurance business), Capital Management (asset management, retirement, and retail brokerage services), and Corporate and Investment Bank (capital markets, investment banking, and financial advisory).
It served retail brokerage clients under the name Wachovia Securities nationwide as well as in six Latin American countries, and investment banking clients in selected industries nationwide. In 2009, Wachovia Securities was the first Wachovia business to be converted to the Wells Fargo brand, when the business became Wells Fargo Advisors. Calibre was an independent consultant that was hired by Wachovia for the Family Wealth Group to research managers. The group no longer uses Calibre. The company's corporate and institutional capital markets and investment banking groups operated under the Wachovia Securities brand, while its asset management group operated under the Evergreen Investments brand until 2010, when the Evergreen fund family merged with Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, and institutional and high net worth products merged with Wells Capital Management and its affiliates.
Wachovia's private equity arm operated as Wachovia Capital Partners. Additionally, the asset-based lending group operated as Wachovia Capital Finance.
Origin of corporate name
Main article: Wachovia, North Carolina
Wachovia (pron.: /wɑːˈkoʊviə/ wah-KOH-vee-ə) has its origins in the Latin form of the Austrian name Wachau. When Moravian settlers arrived in Bethabara, North Carolina, in 1753, they gave this name to the land they acquired, because it resembled the Wachau valley along the Danube River. The area formerly known as Wachovia now makes up most of Forsyth County, and the largest city is now Winston-Salem.
First Union logo.
First Union Corporation was founded as Union National Bank on June 2, 1908, a small banking desk in the lobby of a Charlotte hotel by H.M. Victor.
The bank merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville, North Carolina in 1958 to become First Union National Bank of North Carolina. First Union Corporation was incorporated in 1967. Other predecessor companies include the Bank of North America, the first bank proposed, chartered and incorporated in America on December 31, 1781.
The 1986–2002 Legacy Wachovia Logo
Legacy Wachovia Corporation began on June 16, 1879 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Wachovia National Bank. The bank was opened by William Lemly. In 1911, the bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust Company, which had been founded on June 15, 1893. Wachovia grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast partly on the strength of its accounts from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which was also headquartered in Winston-Salem. On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of the few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta. In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc, giving its first entry into Florida. In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which was Republic Security Bank.
This merger was viewed with great surprise by the financial press and security analysts. While Wachovia had been viewed as an acquisition candidate after running into problems with earnings and credit quality in 2000, the suitor shocked analysts as many speculated that Wachovia would be sold to SunTrust.
The deal met with skepticism and criticism. Analysts, remembering the problems with the CoreStates acquisition, were concerned about First Union's ability to merge with another large company. Winston-Salem's citizens and politicians suffered a blow to their civic pride because Wachovia's corporate headquarters would move to Charlotte, a larger city than Winston-Salem. The city of Winston-Salem was concerned both by job losses and the loss of stature from losing a major corporate headquarters. First Union was concerned by the potential deposit attrition and customer loss in the city. First Union responded to these concerns by placing the wealth management and Carolinas-region headquarters in Winston-Salem.
On May 14, 2001, Atlanta-based SunTrust announced a rival takeover bid for Wachovia, the first hostile takeover attempt in the banking sector in many years. In its effort to make the deal appeal to investors, SunTrust argued that it would provide a smoother transition than First Union and offered a higher cash price for Wachovia stock than First Union. Wachovia's board of directors rejected SunTrust's offer and supported the merger with First Union. SunTrust continued its hostile takeover attempt, leading to a bitter battle over the summer between SunTrust and First Union. Both banks increased their offers for Wachovia, took out newspaper ads, mailed letters to shareholders, and initiated court battles to challenge each other's takeover bids. On August 3, 2001, Wachovia shareholders approved the First Union deal, rejecting SunTrust's attempts to elect a new board of directors for Wachovia and ending SunTrust's hostile takeover attempt.
Another problem concerned each bank's credit card division. In April 2001, Wachovia agreed to sell its $8 billion credit card portfolio to Bank One. The cards, which would have still been branded as Wachovia, would have been issued through Bank One's First USA division. First Union had sold its credit card portfolio to MBNA in August 2000. After entering into negotiations, the new Wachovia agreed to buy back its portfolio from Bank One in September 2001 and resell it to MBNA. Wachovia paid Bank One a $350 million termination fee.
On September 4, 2001, First Union and Wachovia officially merged to form the new Wachovia Corporation, though First Union was the surviving entity. In order to prevent a repeat of the CoreStates problems, the new Wachovia took its time phasing-in the conversion of legacy Wachovia computer systems to First Union systems. The company first began converting systems in the southeast United States (where both banks had branches), before moving to the Northeast, where First Union branches only had to change their signs to reflect the new company name and logo. This process ended on August 18, 2003, almost 2 years after the merger took place.
In comparison to the CoreStates purchase, the merger of First Union and Wachovia was billed as a success by analysts. The company's deliberate pace of conversion seems to have prevented any large-scale customer attrition. In fact, every year since the merger, Wachovia has been ranked number one in customer satisfaction among major banks by the University of Michigan's annual American Customer Satisfaction Index.
When Wachovia and First Union merged, Charlotte, North Carolina's One, Two, and Three First Union buildings became One, Two, and Three Wachovia Center (respectively), and the 55-story First Union Financial Center in downtown Miami became the Wachovia Financial Center. The merger also affected the names of the indoor professional sports arenas in Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as the First Union Center and the First Union Spectrum (both Philadelphia) and First Union Arena (Wilkes-Barre), they were renamed the Wachovia Center (now known as Wells Fargo Center), Wachovia Spectrum, and Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza (now known as Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza), respectively.
Starting in 2009, the Wachovia brand was absorbed into the Wells Fargo brand in a process that lasted three years. On October 15, 2011, the Wachovia brand was retired when the last bank branches in North Carolina were converted to Wells Fargo.
Business lines
The company was organized into four divisions: General Bank (retail, small business, and commercial customers), Wealth Management (high net worth, personal trust, and insurance business), Capital Management (asset management, retirement, and retail brokerage services), and Corporate and Investment Bank (capital markets, investment banking, and financial advisory).
It served retail brokerage clients under the name Wachovia Securities nationwide as well as in six Latin American countries, and investment banking clients in selected industries nationwide. In 2009, Wachovia Securities was the first Wachovia business to be converted to the Wells Fargo brand, when the business became Wells Fargo Advisors. Calibre was an independent consultant that was hired by Wachovia for the Family Wealth Group to research managers. The group no longer uses Calibre. The company's corporate and institutional capital markets and investment banking groups operated under the Wachovia Securities brand, while its asset management group operated under the Evergreen Investments brand until 2010, when the Evergreen fund family merged with Wells Fargo Advantage Funds, and institutional and high net worth products merged with Wells Capital Management and its affiliates.
Wachovia's private equity arm operated as Wachovia Capital Partners. Additionally, the asset-based lending group operated as Wachovia Capital Finance.
Origin of corporate name
Main article: Wachovia, North Carolina
Wachovia (pron.: /wɑːˈkoʊviə/ wah-KOH-vee-ə) has its origins in the Latin form of the Austrian name Wachau. When Moravian settlers arrived in Bethabara, North Carolina, in 1753, they gave this name to the land they acquired, because it resembled the Wachau valley along the Danube River. The area formerly known as Wachovia now makes up most of Forsyth County, and the largest city is now Winston-Salem.
First Union
First Union Corporation was founded as Union National Bank on June 2, 1908, a small banking desk in the lobby of a Charlotte hotel by H.M. Victor.
The bank merged with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville, North Carolina in 1958 to become First Union National Bank of North Carolina. First Union Corporation was incorporated in 1967. Other predecessor companies include the Bank of North America, the first bank proposed, chartered and incorporated in America on December 31, 1781.
Wachovia
Legacy Wachovia Corporation began on June 16, 1879 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina as the Wachovia National Bank. The bank was opened by William Lemly. In 1911, the bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust Company, which had been founded on June 15, 1893. Wachovia grew to become one of the largest banks in the Southeast partly on the strength of its accounts from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which was also headquartered in Winston-Salem. On December 12, 1986, Wachovia purchased First Atlanta. Founded as Atlanta National Bank on September 14, 1865, and later renamed to First National Bank of Atlanta, this institution was the oldest national bank in Atlanta. This purchase made Wachovia one of the few companies with dual headquarters: one in Winston-Salem and one in Atlanta. In 1991, Wachovia entered the South Carolina market by acquiring South Carolina National Corporation, founded as the Bank of Charleston in 1834. In 1998, Wachovia acquired two Virginia-based banks, Jefferson National Bank and Central Fidelity Bank. In 1997, Wachovia acquired both 1st United Bancorp and American Bankshares Inc, giving its first entry into Florida. In 2000, Wachovia made its final purchase, which was Republic Security Bank.
Merger of First Union and Wachovia
On April 16, 2001, Charlotte-based First Union Corporation announced it would purchase Winston-Salem based Wachovia Corporation (though the deal was advertised as a merger of equals). As an important part of the deal, First Union shed its name and assumed the Wachovia identity and stock ticker (NYSE:WB).This merger was viewed with great surprise by the financial press and security analysts. While Wachovia had been viewed as an acquisition candidate after running into problems with earnings and credit quality in 2000, the suitor shocked analysts as many speculated that Wachovia would be sold to SunTrust.
The deal met with skepticism and criticism. Analysts, remembering the problems with the CoreStates acquisition, were concerned about First Union's ability to merge with another large company. Winston-Salem's citizens and politicians suffered a blow to their civic pride because Wachovia's corporate headquarters would move to Charlotte, a larger city than Winston-Salem. The city of Winston-Salem was concerned both by job losses and the loss of stature from losing a major corporate headquarters. First Union was concerned by the potential deposit attrition and customer loss in the city. First Union responded to these concerns by placing the wealth management and Carolinas-region headquarters in Winston-Salem.
On May 14, 2001, Atlanta-based SunTrust announced a rival takeover bid for Wachovia, the first hostile takeover attempt in the banking sector in many years. In its effort to make the deal appeal to investors, SunTrust argued that it would provide a smoother transition than First Union and offered a higher cash price for Wachovia stock than First Union. Wachovia's board of directors rejected SunTrust's offer and supported the merger with First Union. SunTrust continued its hostile takeover attempt, leading to a bitter battle over the summer between SunTrust and First Union. Both banks increased their offers for Wachovia, took out newspaper ads, mailed letters to shareholders, and initiated court battles to challenge each other's takeover bids. On August 3, 2001, Wachovia shareholders approved the First Union deal, rejecting SunTrust's attempts to elect a new board of directors for Wachovia and ending SunTrust's hostile takeover attempt.
Another problem concerned each bank's credit card division. In April 2001, Wachovia agreed to sell its $8 billion credit card portfolio to Bank One. The cards, which would have still been branded as Wachovia, would have been issued through Bank One's First USA division. First Union had sold its credit card portfolio to MBNA in August 2000. After entering into negotiations, the new Wachovia agreed to buy back its portfolio from Bank One in September 2001 and resell it to MBNA. Wachovia paid Bank One a $350 million termination fee.
On September 4, 2001, First Union and Wachovia officially merged to form the new Wachovia Corporation, though First Union was the surviving entity. In order to prevent a repeat of the CoreStates problems, the new Wachovia took its time phasing-in the conversion of legacy Wachovia computer systems to First Union systems. The company first began converting systems in the southeast United States (where both banks had branches), before moving to the Northeast, where First Union branches only had to change their signs to reflect the new company name and logo. This process ended on August 18, 2003, almost 2 years after the merger took place.
In comparison to the CoreStates purchase, the merger of First Union and Wachovia was billed as a success by analysts. The company's deliberate pace of conversion seems to have prevented any large-scale customer attrition. In fact, every year since the merger, Wachovia has been ranked number one in customer satisfaction among major banks by the University of Michigan's annual American Customer Satisfaction Index.
When Wachovia and First Union merged, Charlotte, North Carolina's One, Two, and Three First Union buildings became One, Two, and Three Wachovia Center (respectively), and the 55-story First Union Financial Center in downtown Miami became the Wachovia Financial Center. The merger also affected the names of the indoor professional sports arenas in Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as the First Union Center and the First Union Spectrum (both Philadelphia) and First Union Arena (Wilkes-Barre), they were renamed the Wachovia Center (now known as Wells Fargo Center), Wachovia Spectrum, and Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza (now known as Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza), respectively.
Merger and acquisition history
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (up to the Wachovia and First Union merger of 2001). The list is not comprehensive.|
Wachovia (merged 2001) |
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Acquisitions
Between 2001 and 2006, Wachovia bought several other financial services companies in an attempt to become a national bank and comprehensive financial services company.Prudential Securities
Wachovia Securities and the Prudential Securities Division of Prudential Financial, Inc. combined to form Wachovia Securities LLC on July 1, 2003. Wachovia owns 62% of this entity, while Prudential Financial owns the remaining 38%. At the time, the new firm had client assets of $532.1 billion, making it the nation's third largest full service retail brokerage firm based on assets. Michael Serricchio, a broker for Prudential Securities, was called to active duty in the Air Force reserve in September 2001. At the time, he was handling about 250 accounts with assets totaling $15 million and earning $80000 a year. He was not offered his old position back after his military stint was over, instead being given a job to make cold calls for a $2,000-a-month advance on his commissions. Wachovia also shuffled all of Serricchio's clients away, leaving him with just 4. He sued Wachovia, who had purchased Prudential Securities. A jury found that Wachovia had breached the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act by intentionally making Serricchio an offer that they knew that he would reject.
