BofA engaged in $3.3-bn worth M&A deal since Merrill merger

The government bailed out Bank of America may be scrambling to raise billions of dollars in additional capital but the financial services entity has been involved in 21 merger and acquisition deals worth $3.3 billion since the merger with Merrill Lynch last September.      

The value of such activities excludes government-assisted deals.      

"Since Bank of America acquired Merrill Lynch, it has engaged in M&A Activity valued at 3.3 billion dollars from 21 deals," global deal tracking firm Dealogic has said.      

The US has asked BofA to raise extra capital to the tune of $34 billion following the rigorous stress tests conducted to ascertain the capital requirements of the country's leading bank holding companies. BofA has already received billions of dollars of Federal funds to tide over the financial crisis.      

On Wednesday, BofA announced the selling of 5.8 per cent stake in China Construction Bank for about $7.3 billion. In January, BofA disposed off 2.5 per cent shareholding in the Chinese firm, which was valued at $2.8 billion.      

"Bank of America-Merrill Lynch places fifth in the Global M&A advisory ranking 2009 YTD, with $158.5 billion (including this week's CCB deal) with JP Morgan in first place with $253.5 billion," Dealogic said in a statement.  

In November 2008 alone, BofA engaged in three M&A deals including its top two acquisitions —China Construction Bank (CCB) and Sweden's Hexagon AB.      

Interestingly, the buying of stake in CCB is the top acquisition for the company since  September 15, 2008.      

Besides, the other large deals that was announced include  Acquisition of 5.2 per cent stake in Hexagon AB for $89 million and acquisition of 2.07 per cent stake in Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica for $60 million.      

Another major deal was the acquisition of stake in Sichuan Zhiquan Special Cement for about $40 million in October last year.      

For the first quarter of 2009, BofA posted a profit of $4.2 billion.      

The US government has directed the nation's ten leading banks to boost their capital by $75 billion in extra capital, following the stress tests and BofA has been asked to raise the most to the tune of $34 billion.