Could the Bank of America Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. deal be renegotiated? Proxy firms RiskMetrics Group Inc. and Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC have yet to make recommendations for the final vote on BofA's $50 billion in stock buyout of Merrill Lynch, which shareholders are set to approve on Dec. 5.
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According to the
New York Post, shareholders could force the deal back on the table to renegotiate the
price as the deal spread has almost doubled since September -- usually the spread tightens closer to a deal's approval. In Sept.,
Merrill's stock was trading at $17 a share and Bank of America's shares
in the $30s. But on Friday Merrill closed at $8.34 a share, and BofA's shares closed at $11.47.
So far only one proxy firm, Proxy Governance Inc., has approved the deal.
- Maria Woehr
