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Bear Stearns close to selling to JPMorgan: WSJ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bear Stearns Cos <BSC.N> hopes to seal a deal to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> before Asian markets open on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The deal would save the 85-year old investment bank, which said on Friday it had suffered a run on the bank, and had secured emergency financing from the Federal Reserve, which was supplying funds via JPMorgan Chase.
Bear Stearns could fetch around $2.2 billion, or less than $20 a share, the newspaper said. Shares of the fifth-largest U.S. investment bank closed at $30.85 on Friday, down 46 percent from the prior day. Terms were still be hammered out, the newspaper said.
A stumbling block in any deal is the amount of risk JPMorgan Chase would be taking on, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank is looking for assurances that would limit its liabilities in taking on Bear Stearns, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
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(Reporting by Dan Wilchins; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
