(24 January 2006 – USA) Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis said the bank is putting the thought of making further acquisitions on the back burner for the time being.”We never say never but I do think this could be a period of time similar to that in 1998 to 2003 when there weren’t any major acquisitions,” he said.
BOA bought card issuer MBNA Corp for US$34.2 billion on 1 January this year. In June 2005 the bank bought a nine percent stake in China Construction Bank for US$3 billion.
Not surprisingly, BOA is looking to bed down these acquisitions before making any new ones, particularly outside of the US.
Lewis ruled out any European acquisitions as growth rates in Europe were not as strong as they were in the US.
“I don’t think you could make the arithmetic work,” he said.
Lewis said the bank was not interested in buying an Asian bank either.
He said BOA would focus on integrating its operations with MBNA.