After a week of courtroom threats and billions of dollars at stake, the Federal Reserve approved the sale of local Wachovia to CA based Wells Fargo Bank. Initially, Wachovia agreed to sell it’s banking operations to Citigroup at a deep discount. But a few days later Wells Fargo came in with a much larger deal for the whole shebang. There was some question as to which one would get the final say-so as Citigroup threatened legal action, but at the end of the day, after Federal regulators approved the Wells Fargo deal, the Citigroup folks decided not to challenge the sale.
So, again we’re stuck asking the question “what does this mean for Charlotte and the York County region?”
While I initially thought the Citigroup deal would have only a minor impact, I think the Wells Fargo deal does much more damage to the region. While Citigroup was only taking over banking operations, Wells Fargo is getting the whole package. As such, it probably means more jobs will be moved out to CA as that’s where Wells Fargo is head quartered.
It’s reported that some 20,000 Wachovia employees live here in the Charlotte area, and I’m guessing we’ll see a reduction of that number. How many? Only time will tell.
At the same time, the sky isn’t falling. I promise!
If anything, it just means more opportunities for other businesses to step up and fill the gap left by Wachovia. Home values will most likely take a bit of a hit, but it won’t happen for several months and until the full impact of the deal is better understood.
What do you think? How do you think this deal will impact our region? Go ahead and leave your comments below.
