Armacost Joins Merrill Lynch Office in S.F.

Samuel H. Armacost, who resigned as president and chief executive of troubled BankAmerica Corp. last October, will join the San Francisco office of Merrill Lynch as an investment banker, the brokerage firm said.

Armacost ended his 16-year career with BankAmerica, parent of Bank of America, as part of a move to restore confidence in the company, which he had headed since 1981. BankAmerica has struggled with heavy loan losses, and, at the time, was trying to ward off a takeover bid from First Interstate Bancorp. First Interstate scrapped its offer in February.

“He’s going to be a managing director in our capital markets division with responsibility for working with our key clients, principally in California,” said Barry Friedberg, head of investment banking with Merrill Lynch’s capital markets group in New York.

Friedberg said Armacost, 48, will focus on expanding Merrill Lynch’s investment banking on the West Coast and should begin work in San Francisco within two weeks.