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Wachovia Corporation Timeline

From , former About.com Guide

Wachovia Corporation began in Winston-Salem and through a series of mergers and acquisitions, became one of the largest banks in the nation. On Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 a deal was reached where Wachovia was to be purchased by New York-based Citigroup. However, on Friday, Oct. 3 California-based Wells Fargo announced a merger with Wachovia, in effect trumping the Citigroup deal. Since then, a legal battle has ensued.

Follow the Wachovia Corporation timeline to track the company's history:

1879: Legacy Wachovia Corporation was established as the Wachovia National Bank in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1911: Wachovia National Bank merged with Wachovia Loan and Trust (founded in 1893) retaining its location in Winston-Salem.

1958: Union National Ban (founded in 1908) merges with First National Bank and Trust Company of Asheville to become the First Union National Bank of North Carolina

April 1998: First Union acquires Philadelphia-headquartered CoreStates Financial Corporation (founded in 1781) in the largest banking merger to date.

June 1998: First Union purchases The Money Store for $2.1 billion only to close the unit two years later.

April 2001: Charlotte-based First Union announces merger with Winston-Salem based Wachovia.

May 2001: Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank launches an unsolicited bid to buy Wachovia

August 2001: Wachovia shareholders approve merger with First Union.

September 2001: Wachovia and First Union merge to create Wachovia Corporation

July 2003: Wachovia Securities and the Prudential Securities Division of Prudential Financial, Inc. combined to form Wachovia Securities LLC

October 2003: Wachovia acquires Metropolitan West Securities, an affiliate company of Metropolitan West Financial.

November 2004: Wachovia completed the acquisition of Birmingham, Alabama-based banking competitor SouthTrust Corporation for $14.9 billion creating the largest bank in the southeast U.S.

March 2006: Wachovia acquires California-based Westcorp and WFS Financial, Inc. to become the ninth largest auto finance lender and gain a retail banking presence in Southern California.

May 2006: Wachovia purchases California's Golden West Financial Corp. for $25.5 billion to take on more mortgage business.

October 2007: Wachovia acquires retail securities broker A.G. Edwards Inc. for $6.8 billion.

March 2008: Wachovia begins phasing out the AG Edwards brand in favor of Wachovia Securities.

April 2008: Wachovia announces first quarterly loss in seven years.

June 2008: CEO Ken Thompson is dismissed.

July 2008: Treasury Undersecretary Robert K. Steel comes on board as CEO

Sept. 29, 2008: It it announced that Wachovia's banking operations will be sold to New York-based Citigroup for $1 per share.

Oct. 3, 2008: Wells Fargo announces that it has a definitive agreement to purchase Wachovia in entirety for $15.1 billion (approximately $7 per share).

Oct. 6, 2008: Citigroup files a $60 billion lawsuit against Wachovia and Wells Fargo for interfering with Citigroup's takeover of Wachovia's banking operations.

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