JP Morgan Chase CEO William Harrison (L) and Bank One CEO Jamie Dimon in New York on Thursday. (Reuters)

New York, Jan. 15 (Reuters): JP Morgan Chase on Wednesday agreed to buy Chicago-based Bank One Corp for about $58 billion in stock, in one of the largest financial mergers in US history.

The acquisition would extend the geographic reach of JP Morgan, which has a major presence in the US, especially in consumer banking. It would also reduce JP Morgan’s dependence on investment banking and trading, analysts said.

“Lovely deal,” said Michael Stead, who runs the $550-million Wells Fargo SIFE Specialized Financial Services fund and owns shares of both banks. “They would command a wider geography and they could cross-sell products more easily.”

JP Morgan Chase, whose roots date to 1799, was formed three years ago from the merger of Chase Manhattan and JP Morgan, and is the second largest US bank. Bank One, with more than 1,800 offices, is the sixth largest. As many as 10,000 jobs might be cut, the banks said.

William Harrison, JP Morgan’s chairman and CEO, will keep those jobs in the combined company, which will be named JP Morgan Chase and be based in New York. Its $1.1 trillion of assets will be second to Citigroup Inc. “This combination is transformational, because it makes us a major consumer player in the US,” the 60-year-old Harrison said on a conference call. “We don’t have to do another merger to be successful.”

Jamie Dimon, 47, Bank One’s chairman and CEO since March 2000, will become chief operating officer and rise to CEO in 2006. Harrison will remain chairman.