Bank of America will buy credit card company MBNA Corp. in a massive cash and stock deal worth US$35 billion.

Roughly 6,000 jobs are expected to be eliminated in the wake of the merger as Bank of America cuts its costs by US$850 million. The restructuring is expected to result in charges of US$1.25 billion.

The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, will see MBNA shareholders get half a share of Bank of America plus US$4.125 in cash for each of their shares.

The takeover values MBNA at US$27.50 per share.

The deal is expected to add more than 20 million new credit card accounts to Bank of America.

The boards of directors of both companies have already approved the takeover, which remains subject to the approval of regulators and MBNA shareholders.

Dominion Bond Rating Service placed the ratings of MBNA Canada Bank and the parent, MBNA America Bank N.A., “under review with positive implications” and it has confirmed its ratings on Bank of America.

DBRS says it views this transaction as positive for MBNA’s debt holders because Bank of America is a very large, diversified U.S. bank. “The presence of such a large, strong parent should provide opportunities to lower funding costs and enhance financial flexibility,” it suggests.

With the acquisition, Bank of America will add significant scale to its existing credit card business, with about US$143 billion in card balances and over 40 million active accounts, the rating agency says. “The added size and scale should provide opportunities for distribution and marketing efficiencies. Annual cost savings of US$850 million are expected by 2007,” it says.

For Bank of America, DBRS says it sees this acquisition as neutral to its credit assessment. “While there are challenges with purchasing MBNA, these are offset to some degree by the fact that the prior rating evaluation had already incorporated the likelihood that BofA could ultimately take meaningful steps of some type to deal with strong competition and its longer term strategic aspirations. There are also benefits in the deal,” it says.

“Specifically, DBRS sees BofA as benefiting from the step-up in gaining major scale in the cards business with this deal effectively doubling its customer account base to 40 million accounts and giving it one of the leading positions in the cards issuance business with a dominant share of Visa card issuance,” it says.

“Additionally, the combined US$143 billion in outstanding balances will benefit from the company’s low-cost deposit base, which will significantly enhance margins of the MBNA credit card outstandings.” DBRS sees the transactions as having no significant impact on the overall assessment of capital ratios.

DBRS notes that the U.S. credit card industry is mature and has experienced slowing growth recently. BofA intends to cross-sell the acquired customer base. “This has proved challenging for other financial institutions,” it warns, and DBRS says it expects it to be a challenge for BofA as well.

“The company may also confront some resistance among financial affinity ‘partners’, who may perceive BofA as a competitor relative to the monoline MBNA. The risk may be materially significant as these balances are not an insignificant portion of MBNA’s managed loan book,” it adds.

DBRS observes that the proposed merger will make cards a significant component of BofA’s business profile. On a pro forma basis, MBNA’s pre-tax earnings will become 16% of the company’s earnings and credit cards 24% of the total loan mix. The potential transformational nature of this transaction has also been incorporated in the confirmation of the ratings, it notes.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.