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That’s what time
Bear Stearns chairman
James Cayne announced this morning that the bank’s shareholders
had approved its sale to
JP Morgan for $10 per share.
The 84 percent shareholder approval rate concludes the last chapter
in what will be remembered as one of Wall Street’s greatest
collapses.
Cayne apologized to the investors and employees attending the
shareholder meeting,
according to the Wall Street Journal. "We ran into a
hurricane," Cayne said. "There’s no anger; there’s simply
remorse."
Both Cayne and Bear Stearns chief executive
Alan Schwartz expressed admiration for the banks’ 14,000
employees, more than half of which lost their jobs as part of the
transaction.
The deal is expected to close on Friday.
For some bitter shareholders and former employees, Cayne’s apology
cannot begin to repair the damage from Bear’s dramatic collapse and
fire sale to J.P. Morgan. "Cayne offered his apology, but to me
that’s not enough,” shareholder Wayne Kaniper
told Bloomberg.
Bear’s troubles began in earnest last summer, when two of its hedge
funds imploded in what was one of the first major casualties of the
current credit crisis. Warren Spector, co-president of Bear, was
forced out in August. In January, then chief executive Cayne
stepped down to let Schwartz take over.
But none of the executive changes were enough to stop the momentum
that had been building as the credit crisis worsened. In March,
many of Bear’s biggest clients and trading partners began fleeing
from the bank, and Bear was ultimately forced into the deal with
J.P. Morgan and the Federal Reserve.
The firm was founded in 1923.

so,bye,bye Bear Stearn…who is the next?