First Security Corp

Wells Fargo & Co. said Monday that it agreed to buy First Security Corp. for $2.9 billion in stock, less than two weeks after Zions Bancorp shareholders rejected an earlier merger agreement with First Security. The acquisition deal is the latest by Wells Fargo Chief Executive Richard M. Kovacevich, who shook hands on an agreement with sometime tennis partner First Security CEO Spencer F.

With a growing number of California's best-known investment banks now controlled by East Coast banks, the smaller Van Kasper & Co. hopes to capture more business here by carving out a reputation as one of the West's leading investment banks.

Zions Bancorp, the No. 2 bank in Utah, on Sunday agreed to buy its bigger rival First Security Corp. for $5.9 billion in stock to create the 20th-largest bank in the U.

Marine National Bank, an Irvine-based institution with three branches, is being sold by its South Korean parent corporation, Shinhan Bank, to First Security Corp.

The ranks of independent investment banks thinned again Wednesday when San Francisco-based Van Kasper & Co. agreed to a $100-million purchase by First Security Corp.

Securitas, the world's largest security services company, bought two U.S. rivals for $202 million in cash, as the Swedish company continues its acquisition spree to sustain growth.