THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 4, 1995 TAG: 9508040447
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAMELA L. MOORE, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
``Nobody wants to merge with us,'' laments NationsBank Chief Executive Hugh McColl Jr. in the latest issue of Fortune magazine.
The Fortune cover story, headlined ``Here Comes Hugh,'' paints a picture of a pugnacious, thin-skinned McColl and his hunt for the deal that will make NationsBank America's biggest bank.
Problem is, the article says, NationsBank's reputation as a take-no- prisoners operator may be getting in the way of its ability to hammer out a deal and join the merger fray that started with First Union's $5.4 billion buyout of New Jersey-based First Fidelity Bancorp.
``Many banks see NationsBank as an 800-pound gorilla. People are afraid of them because they have come closest to doing a hostile deal,'' New York mergers and acquisitions lawyer Charles Nathan is quoted as saying.
McColl talks about his disappointment at the missed chance to buy First Chicago Corp., which recently agreed to a merger of equals with Detroit-based NBD Corp.
``We did not have substantive talks,'' he says, ``but I would have if they would have.''
Industry sources have said First Chicago's big credit-card business and roster of corporate customers had great appeal to NationsBank, but the sticking point was the headquarters. First Chicago wanted to remain a Chicago bank. It gets to keep that distinction with merger partner NBD.
McColl gives little outright indication of his next move. ``Asked which bank he'd like to buy next, McColl plays the artful dodger,'' Fortune says. ``Chase Manhattan? He denies it vehemently. . . . Bank of Boston? Well, who knows? All McColl will say when asked whether he's willing to buy a major bank: `I still feel it is conceivable. In fact, I think about it a lot.' ''
In truth, he says, he's getting tired of the rampant Wall Street speculation about the bank's next deal. NationsBank is routinely mentioned as a buyer when any bank comes up for sale - in part because at No. 4, it's one of the U.S. banks big enough to do about any deal of its choosing. McColl complains of the persistent rumors: ``It hurts our stock.''
One rumor he's ready to bury is that NationsBank is interested in Bankers Trust, the New York bank plagued by management woes and problems related to its derivatives business.
Says McColl: ``Let me set the record straight. We have never contemplated - ever, ever, ever, ever - the idea of merging with Bankers Trust. That's probably a story somebody started who owned Bankers Trust stock.''
First Union CEO Ed Crutchfield plays a bit part in the article as McColl's cross-town rival who got First Fidelity, one of the big fish that McColl wanted. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo of Fortune cover
by CNB