Merrill May Lose 10,000 Jobs in Merger, Bove Says

By Jeff Kearns

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Merrill Lynch & Co. may eliminate 10,000 jobs after Bank of America Corp. completes its $50 billion acquisition of the firm, Ladenburg Thalmann Inc. analyst Richard Bove said.

``Bank of America's `slash and burn' style following acquisitions is likely to be pronounced at Merrill,'' Bove wrote in a note to clients. ``That company still has approximately $30 billion in securities that could be written down. It overlaps with Bank of America in multiple divisions.''

Merrill had 60,900 employees as of Sept. 26, according to Bloomberg data.

Merrill Chief Executive Officer John Thain said he expects ``thousands'' of job losses from the takeover by Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. bank by market value after JPMorgan Chase & Co. Most of the cuts will fall in information technology, operations and ``corporate functions,'' Thain said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday.

Banks worldwide have pared more than 130,000 jobs since June 2007 as firms including Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. collapsed amid more than $660 billion in losses and writedowns since the global credit crisis began more than a year ago, according to Bloomberg data.

Bove said he will drop coverage of the stock on Dec. 1 when the acquisition is complete. He had a ``sell'' rating on Merrill before removing his recommendation last month.

Merrill lost 1.6 percent to $19.01 at 9:47 a.m. New York time. Before today, the shares had lost 64 percent this year. Bank of America added 3 cents to $24.43.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Kearns in New York at jkearns3@bloomberg.net.