In the latest battle of the banks, a financial institution with a large Iowa presence is buying a competitor. California-based Wells Fargo is buying out Wachovia of North Carolina for a reported 15.1 billion dollars in an all-stock deal.
Wachovia had been in talks with Citigroup, but that proposal fell through. Officials say the deal keeps Wachovia intact without help from Uncle Sam. Wells Fargo has more than 9,000 workers in Iowa, more than half of them at the massive home mortgage and consumer credit division, headquartered in West Des Moines.