JPMorgan to integrate Bear prime brokerage

JPMorgan Chase & Co executives have told Bear Stearns
Cos employees they will integrate the firm’s prime brokerage and global trade
processing businesses, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing people
familiar with the situation.

The newspaper called the moves among the easiest decisions
for JPMorgan, which is buying Bear in a transaction now valuing the investment
bank at roughly $10.02 per share. The businesses employ about 800 of Bear’s
14,000 employees, the newspaper said.

Prime brokers typically provide trading, lending, cash
management and other services to hedge funds.

Bear’s trade processing, or clearing, business provides
trade completion services to small broker-dealers, and houses its prime
brokerage operation. It generated $1.2 bln of net revenue in the 2007 fiscal
year, or 20% of Bear’s total, according to Bear’s annual report.

JPMorgan’s clearing business caters mainly to larger
customers, the newspaper said.