Bank branches out in its biggest deal.

• Position: CHARLOTTE

Charlotte-based Wachovia agreed to buy Oakland, Calif.-based Golden West Financial for $25.5 billion in cash and stock--its biggest purchase yet. Wachovia will increase its assets from $542 billion to $669 billion but will remain the fourth-largest U.S. bank. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, will allow Wachovia to expand into Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and Nevada; it will increase...