IIRC, Bank of America was told in no uncertain terms by Bernanke and Paulson that they were buying Merrill Lynch. It was a shot-gun wedding at a pivotal moment in the crisis.

I don't remember if JP Morgan had a gun to their head, but there was likely significant pressure. Combined with the fast pace of events and uncertain liability (the crimes were not all known), the purchase prices were very rough guesses.

I hesitate to say that it was unfair that BofA and JPM were punished for the sins of the banks they bailed out. For one thing, neither of them were exactly innocent. Secondly, 10 years on they're both doing really well. While it's great they both took one for the team, so to speak, it's not like either made a great sacrifice.

I'm not familiar with the specifics of how the negotiations actually went down, but I can't imagine negotiations work like this when regulators are telling you "You must buy Company X" and you weren't interested in acquiring Company X to begin with.

Purchase prices only reflect a acquirer's view of the value of Company X under market conditions, which seems to have clearly not have been the case when the acquisition occurred.

They paid $2/share for Bear Stearns, in stock rather than cash. The closing price that Friday had been $30/share (and was $150/share the year before).

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-to-buy-bear-stea...