Alabama's two largest banks, Regions Financial Corp. and AmSouth Bancorp., are expected to announce today they have agreed to what is described as a merger of equals.
The deal, valued at about $10 billion based on Wednesday's closing prices, would create a Birmingham-based banking powerhouse - called Regions Financial - with $140 billion in assets, $100 billion in deposits, 2,000 offices, 37,000 employees and more than 2,800 ATMs in 16 states. The combined bank would rank among the top 15 banks in the nation based on assets, according to figures from the Web site of banking industry research firm SNL Financial.
Speculation about talks between the banks has been swirling since November, stirring fear about more job cuts in the city's banking sector, which in the past two years has lost nearly 2,000 jobs as a result of Wachovia Corp.'s acquisition of SouthTrust Corp.
One of the chief reasons for merging is cost savings, which typically means cutting "back-office" positions in departments such as accounting, public relations, data processing and so on. There is plenty of room for such cost savings. The banks have headquarters operations across the street from each other, both have operations centers in the city, and they have branches in the same neighborhoods.
The deal, which would do away with the AmSouth name, would mean the loss of another Fortune 500 corporate headquarters for Birmingham. The city, which in 2001 was home to six Fortune 500 companies, has since lost three - Caremark Rx Inc., SouthTrust Corp. and Torchmark Corp. - to either mergers or relocations. Another Birmingham-based company, Saks Inc., is also considering moving its headquarters out of the city.
Alabama's two largest banks, Regions Financial Corp. and AmSouth Bancorp., are expected to announce today they have agreed to what is described as a merger of equals.
The deal, valued at about $10 billion based on Wednesday's closing prices, would create a Birmingham-based banking powerhouse - called Regions Financial - with $140 billion in assets, $100 billion in deposits, 2,000 offices, 37,000 employees and more than 2,800 ATMs in 16 states. The combined bank would rank among the top 15 banks in the nation based on assets, according to figures from the Web site of banking industry research firm SNL Financial.
Speculation about talks between the banks has been swirling since November, stirring fear about more job cuts in the city's banking sector, which in the past two years has lost nearly 2,000 jobs as a result of Wachovia Corp.'s acquisition of SouthTrust Corp.
One of the chief reasons for merging is cost savings, which typically means cutting "back-office" positions in departments such as accounting, public relations, data processing and so on. There is plenty of room for such cost savings. The banks have headquarters operations across the street from each other, both have operations centers in the city, and they have branches in the same neighborhoods.
The deal, which would do away with the AmSouth name, would mean the loss of another Fortune 500 corporate headquarters for Birmingham. The city, which in 2001 was home to six Fortune 500 companies, has since lost three - Caremark Rx Inc., SouthTrust Corp. and Torchmark Corp. - to either mergers or relocations. Another Birmingham-based company, Saks Inc., is also considering moving its headquarters out of the city.
