The Cincinnati Beacon
5/3 Lawsuit and Buyout Rumors
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Photo courtesy of here.
Did I miss the news? Where is The Enquirer’s coverage of the class action lawsuit against 5/3 Bank? According to a recent press release, “The Complaint alleges that the defendants violated federal securities laws by issuing material misrepresentations to the market concerning Fifth Third Bancorp’s financial condition and prospects, thereby artificially inflating the price of Fifth Third Bancorp securities.” This could be huge news for the Cincinnati bank. And one must wonder how it relates to the other 5/3 rumor: Are they about to sell to another bank, like Wachovia?
I have heard people talking about the alleged 5/3 buyout, and I have heard names like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Wachovia thrown into the mix. But only Wachovia has a blue and green logo (pictured above) that seems remotely similar to 5/3’s recently redesigned logo:
So if I had to place money on the rumor, I’d go with Wachovia buying out 5/3. But with the news of the class action lawsuit, one must wonder if the suit could have an affect on 5/3’s sale—assuming, of course, there is any truth to this.
If a buyout were to occur, I think the biggest hit to the region would involve the relatively new operations center built in Madisonville. If a bank like Wachovia had its own central operations location, and if the work got streamlined into that operation, the Madisonville center would become a huge ghost should it become abandoned. I don’t know what other business would move into such an enormous facility.
Anyway, if an entity like 5/3 gets sued in a class action suit, I think that constitutes news. People have been sending me links on this for some time, but I haven’t caught a local story about it. Why not? And if there is truth to the buy out rumors, isn’t that the kind of thing the local media should cover, like The Enquirer or The Business Courier? Perhaps their silence means the rumors are not true. Or, perhaps the silence over the class action story indicates a hands-off approach to negative stories about 5/3 Bank here in Cincinnati.
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