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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2004 WWW.USDOJ.GOV |
AT (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 |
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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT REACHES AGREEMENT WITH WACHOVIA REQUIRING DIVESTITURES IN WACHOVIA/SOUTHTRUST MERGER Divestitures Ensure that Banking Services in the Southeast United States Remain Competitive WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice announced today an agreement with Wachovia Corporation that requires the company to make divestitures in order to resolve antitrust concerns about the company's pending merger with SouthTrust Corporation. Under the agreement, Wachovia will divest 18 SouthTrust branches with about $592 million in total deposits in four banking markets located in Florida and Georgia. "This divestiture will ensure that banking customers in Florida and Georgia will continue to receive competitive banking services," said R. Hewitt Pate, Assistant Attorney General of the Department's Antitrust Division. In addition, Wachovia has agreed that, for a period of time and in specified areas, it will sell or lease any of the branch offices closed as a result of the merger to a commercial bank buyer so long as there is a bank-buyer offer that meets or exceeds the best offer from a non-bank buyer. The proposed merger is subject to the final approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Department will advise the Federal Reserve Board that, subject to the divestiture of specified branch offices and associated loans and deposits, the Antitrust Division will not challenge the merger. Wachovia Corporation, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the fourth largest bank holding company in the United States. The corporation has consolidated assets of $411 billion and consolidated total deposits of $224 billion. Wachovia operates 2,617 branches and 4,400 ATMs in 11 states from New York to Florida. SouthTrust Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. It has consolidated assets of $53 billion and deposits of $35 billion, with 740 branch offices and 894 ATMs from Texas to Virginia. A list of the branches to be divested is attached below. SouthTrust Branches
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