Following the lead of Portfolio's Felix Salmon, who suggested Friday morning
on his
blog
Market Movers that Bear, Stearns & Co. is a likely takeover candidate,
the writers at WSJ.com's
Deal
Journal blog peered into their crystal ball to see who might buy troubled
Bear Stearns should its problems deepen beyond a couple of
bankrupt
hedge funds. It is a rather short list of five serious possibilities and
one tongue-in-cheek suggestion. The likely bidders include Bank of America
Corp., HSBC Holdings plc, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., UBS and Wachovia
Corp. The unlikely candidate is the government of China. While Salmon argued
the case for a sale, which Deal Journal skipped, he only listed one possible
buyer: Barclays Bank plc, and only if it fails to win ABN Amro Bank NV.
—Matthew Wurtzel
See
post from Market Movers
See
post from Deal Journal
Tags: Bear
Stearns,
banking,
investment
banking,
deals,
m&a,
mergers
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