Bank of America to sell $1.5 billion stake in HCA

Bank of America agreed Thursday to sell its stake in HCA back to the hospital firm, a move that will raise $1.5 billion in cash for the beleaguered US banking giant. "The transaction is consistent with our strategy of selling non-core assets, building liquidity and strengthening the balance sheet," said Jerry Dubrowski, a spokesman for Bank of America.
Shares of Hospital Corporation of America, which owns around 270 hospitals and surgery centers in the United States and Britain, rallied 10.8 percent after the buyback was announced, while Bank of America was up 1.8 percent. HCA said in a statement that the deal would be completed by next Wednesday and that the shares being purchased represented about a 15.6 percent stake in the hospital company.
The HCA stake was acquired for $1 billion in 2006 by Merrill Lynch, which two years later was taken over by Bank of America, the United States's largest bank in terms of assets. The HCA move comes several days after Bank of America said it would lay off 30,000 employees and slash $5 billion from its annual costs by 2014 as part of a sweeping restructuring plan.