“The Worst Deal in the History of American Finance”

I love this quote from a WSJ article on Bank of America ($BAC):

Bank of America Corp. thought it had a bargain four years ago when it paid $2.5 billion for tottering mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. But the ill-fated decision has already cost the Charlotte, N.C., lender more than $40 billion in real-estate losses, legal expenses and settlements with state and federal agencies, according to people close to the bank.

“It is the worst deal in the history of American finance,” said Tony Plath, a banking and finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “Hands down.”

The acquisition of Countrywide, which was completed almost exactly four years ago, turned Bank of America into a huge mortgage lender just as the U.S. housing market collapsed.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 29th, 2012 at 2:13 pm

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