Filed under: Deals, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), S and P 500, DJIA, Bear Stearns Cos (BSC)
MarketWatch has an interesting thought piece out on JPMorgan’s (NYSE: JPM) re-negotiated deal for troubled investment bank, Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC). Entitled “Dimon’s Dog “, the article’s thesis is that while JPMorgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, initially had a great score scooping up Bear on the brink of insolvency, his renegotiated deal leaves the company with a significantly weaker hand than it had just one week ago.
According to MarketWatch’s David Weidner, “Somewhere, Gordon Gecko is hanging himself with his suspenders.”
It seemed that Dimon had it in the bag. A swift and dirty deal, approved by Bear’s board with pressure from the Federal Reserve Board — it appeared a done deal.
But then something happened.
$2 had tremendous shock value. Regardless of how that values the company, you can purchase a hot dog for $2. The market didn’t believe it could happen and I guess what happened is that JPMorgan couldn’t believe it either even though the firm committed to taking on Bear Stearn’s obligations whether or not Bear shareholders concurred to the deal. Check out Sheldon Liber’s article on the subject.
Dimon and Co. began bidding against itself and the market perception of the deal and ultimately is paying more for the deal to solidify its position.
According to the same MarketWatch article: “But it’s also kind of like the Rolling Stones going back and rerecording some of their early hits. It makes a fan want to state, why?”
$2, $10, whatever — if Bear’s book value really hovers near the $80 as their CEO stated just a couple of weeks ago and they’ve got that beautiful building — I still think JPMorgan came out ahead.
Zack Miller is the managing editor of IsraelNewsletter.com and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund.
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