Bank of America Corp. is in talks with Countrywide Financial Corp. that could lead to a merger, according to a report on the Financial Times’ Web site.

The companies have held discussions about an alliance that would be the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, the newspaper says, citing people close to the matter.

Those talks could lead to BofA’s purchase of Countrywide or a joint venture under which Charlotte-based BofA would use its branch network to sell home mortgages originated by Countrywide, the newspaper reports.

Analysts estimate Countrywide could fetch $30 billion in a takeover, the Financial Times says.

Countrywide is based in California.

Published January 26, 2007 by the Charlotte Business Journal

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