It’s Now Official: JPMorgan Chase Ups Its Bid for Bear Stearns Buyout Offer

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- In an effort to quell the shareholder anger of its buyout partner, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) announced on Monday that it was amending its buyout agreement with The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) to increase the size of its proposed purchase price.

The new agreement will reflect “an implied value of approximately $10 per share of Bear Stearns common stock based on the closing price of JPMorgan Chase common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on March 20, 2008,” JPMorgan reported in a statement.

In addition, JPMorgan will also purchase 95 million newly issued shares of Bear Stearns common stock at the same price as provided in the amended merger agreement, JPMorgan said. 

"We believe the amended terms are fair to all sides and reflect the value and risks of the Bear Stearns franchise, and [these terms] bring more certainty for our respective shareholders, clients, and the marketplace,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO/Chairman Jamie Dimon in the statement.

“We look forward to a prompt closing and being able to operate as one company,” he added.

The Boards of Directors of both companies have approved the amended agreement and the purchase agreement, The Bank reported.

Given the fact that these two financial firms were able to reopen negotiations to this deal, it stands to reason that close personal ties between their Directors must have played a significant role in making the new talks possible.

NewsVisual created an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map to show who the behind-the-scenes negotiators could have been.

The Knowledge Map illustrates several sets of personal connections between the current members of the two financial institutions’ Board of Directors, including board-room connections that run through the University of Chicago, the Con Edison Company of New York Inc, and a nonprofit named NYC2012 Inc.

To see the details of these connections, click here for an interactive and fuller version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).