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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Countrywide Buyout Finalized

Countrywide Financial Corporation is no more. Bank of America successfully acquired the Calabasas-based mortgage giant and will spend at least the next year changing the name on everything from sprawling office complexes to business cards throughout the country. As a final going away present, the Attorney General of Florida filed a lawsuit against Countrywide, joining the Illinois and California AG’s and a variety of other entities all seeking recompense for their constituents who were allegedly victimized by Countrywide’s aggressive mortgage lending tactics. The stock market’s recent meltdown may actually be a boon to Bank of America. The company exchanged 0.1822 of a share of BofA stock in exchange for each share of Countrywide. When the deal was first announced in January, the value of BofA stock would have made that deal worth about $4 billion. But by the deal’s closing at the end of June, BofA stock had dropped to $23.87 per share, meaning Countrywide only cost about $2.5 billion. BofA announced last week it would cut 7,500 jobs over the next two years. The company has not yet identified where those cuts will take place.

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