JP Morgan to Buy Bear Stearns to Avert Wider Financial Crises

(NewsVisual, powered by IntellectSpace) -- In an unusually timed Sunday press release that sent shockwaves throughout the financial world, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) announced that it was acquiring the troubled investment-banking firm The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE:BSC) for $2 per share.

The Board of Directors of both institutions had approved the deal, the JP Morgan statement said.

“JPMorgan Chase stands behind Bear Stearns,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO/Chairman Jamie Dimon. “Bear Stearns’ clients and counterparties should feel secure that JPMorgan is guaranteeing Bear Stearns’ counterparty risk.”

“This transaction will provide good long-term value for JPMorgan Chase shareholders,” Dimon added.

Did the close personal connections between several of JPMorgan and Bear Stearn Directors help to seal the deal?

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).