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Wounded Bear Scrambles for a Savior

Stearns hopes to find a quick buyer in troubled times

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 15, 2008 3:38 PM CDT
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(Newser) – What's next for Bear Stearns? A Wall Street institution for the better part of a century, it is now scrambling to find a buyer. Its best hope is JP Morgan, which provided a temporary lifeline yesterday along with the Fed. But other possible suitors include Citibank and HSBC, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a sign of the times, the Journal notes that Bear's single biggest asset might be its building—the Madison Avenue digs could fetch $1.2 billion.

Bear first needs to decide whether to sell as a whole or split itself up—its prime brokerage unit, for example, might tempt some—and then figure out a value. In such a turbulent credit market, that will be difficult, and investors dispute the company’s self-proclaimed $80-a-share value. One employee invoked It’s a Wonderful Life: “Today is just that day at the Bailey Building & Loan,” he said.

Bear Stearns' traders and bankers inside the securities firm were glumly assessing the firm's value, which had fallen by 47% to just $3.48 billion in overall market capitalization.
Bear Stearns' traders and bankers inside the securities firm were glumly assessing the firm's value, which had fallen by 47% to just $3.48 billion in overall market capitalization.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
People enter and exit the Bear Stearns corporate headquarters in New York. The company may have to sell its headquarters to raise capital, the Wall Street Journal says.
People enter and exit the Bear Stearns corporate headquarters in New York. The company may have to sell its headquarters to raise capital, the Wall Street Journal says.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, file)
The headquarters of Bear Stearns, left, and JP Morgan Chase, right, overlook midtown Manhattan on Friday, March 14, 2008 in New York.
The headquarters of Bear Stearns, left, and JP Morgan Chase, right, overlook midtown Manhattan on Friday, March 14, 2008 in New York.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Bear Stearns' headquarters overlooks the flag for neighboring JP Morgan Chase headquarters in New York on Friday, March 14, 2008.
Bear Stearns' headquarters overlooks the flag for neighboring JP Morgan Chase headquarters in New York on Friday, March 14, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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