Bear Stearns sale price as stated in previous post - $20/share; now, $2/share

OMFG... (see yesterday's post...)

JPMorgan is paying just $2 a share for Bear, or a total of $236 million, although the bank put a total $6 billion price tag on the deal including litigation and severance costs.

Still, the per-share payout is just one-fifteenth of Bear's stock price on Friday and miles off its record share price of $172.61 last year.

That means Bear's shareholders, including British billionaire Joseph Lewis and Bear Stearns' Chairman Jimmy Cayne, will have their holdings wiped out by the deal.

"It's scary for what it says about the value of financial assets, if a company is worth only a small percentage of book value," said Emanuel Weintraub, managing director of Integre Advisors, a New York-based money management firm.

oh, and btw, < wipes away alligator tears >, no golden parachutes for bear execs...

The plunging shares, plus a lack of the normal payout expected when a company is taken over, known as 'golden parachutes', delivers a serious blow to the bankers, traders and other executives worldwide at a firm that has long encouraged its above-average levels of inside ownership.

"The current stock ownership by executive officers reflects a significant personal investment in the company by those who are most responsible for the company's future success," the bank said in a proxy statement.

Employees own around 30 percent of the bank.

two dollars a share...!?!?! absolutely unbelievable... everybody better buckle in, this is going to be one HELL of a week... (remember, i'm writing this at 7 a.m. u.s. eastern time, and the markets haven't even OPENED yet...)

(thanks for the $2/share tip from commenter johann...)

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