Media Contact:
Mary Eshet
(704) 383-7777
CoreStates Contact:
Linda Stryker
(215) 973-3546
Investor Contact:
Alice Lehman
(704) 374-4139
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April 13, 1998
First Union Receives Federal Reserve Approval for Merger with CoreStates
CHARLOTTE - The Federal Reserve Board voted today to approve First Union Corporation's (NYSE:FTU) pending merger with CoreStates Financial Corp (NYSE:CFL). The merger, which would create the leading banking company on the Eastern Seaboard, was approved by shareholders of both companies on Feb. 27, 1998.
The approval was granted following an agreement First Union reached with the Department of Justice to divest certain bank branches, and closing is conditioned on a binding agreement of sale with a qualified buyer for those branches. Pending satisfaction of other conditions of closing, the merger is expected to be consummated by April 30, 1998.
"Approval by the Federal Reserve takes us one step closer to our goal of creating the premier financial services company on the East Coast," said Edward E. Crutchfield, chairman and chief executive officer, First Union Corporation. "We're eager to get down to business to deliver the enhanced products and services that our customers and our communities have told us they need."
The combination of First Union and CoreStates would create a $220 billion financial services leader, ranking among the nation's top three banks in small business banking, home equity lending and cash management, and one of the top five middle market lenders.
Charlotte-based First Union Corporation is a leading provider of financial services to more 16 million retail and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation. At December 31, 1997, First Union was the nation's 6th largest bank holding company, with assets of $157 billion. The company operates full-service banking offices in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
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