BofA Raises $13.47B in Stock Sale

Updated from Tuesday, May 19

Bank of America (BAC) has raised $13.47 billion by issuing 1.25 billion shares at an average price of $10.77 a share.

"We're pleased to have this portion of our capital plan completed," said Chief Financial Officer Joe Price, in a statement late Tuesday. "This strengthens and diversifies our capital structure."

Several financial firms have been issuing shares now that the government has completed the "stress tests" it ran on the nation's 19 largest banks. It was determined that Bank of America would need additional capital of $33.9 billion, more than any other bank, to protect against losses if the economy worsened.

Bank of America launched a plan to raise the capital through the sale of assets and by selling stock. Last week it announced it had sold part of its stake in China Construction Bank to Asian investors for about $7.3 billion. Together with the sales of stock, the bank is now more than halfway to reaching its capital raising goals.

BofA executives have said they are mulling sales of the bank's Columbia asset management unit, as well as several other businesses. The bank previously said it planned to sell its First Republic Bank unit, which it inherited when it bought Merrill Lynch in January. Those sales could help raise $10 billion.

Additional capital could come from further stock sales and cash flow from operations in the coming quarters, Bank of America has said.

BofA shares closed Tuesday down 48 cents, or 4%, at $11.25.

Several other financial firms have issued shares following the stress tests, even some that were told by Washington that they didn't need to raise any capital. Among the banks seeking funds were BB&T (BBT), Capital One (COF), KeyCorp (KEY) and US Bancorp (USB).

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