RayJay may buy $1.3B brokerage

ST. PETERSBURG -- Raymond James Financial Inc. (symbol: RJF) “resumed talks” with Regions Financial Corp. regarding the purchase of its brokerage subsidiary, Morgan Keegan & Co., according to Bloomberg News.

Regions had been negotiating exclusively with St. Louis-based Stifel Financial Corp., but that exclusivity period has expired, Bloomberg's Zachary Mider says.

Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., Morgan Keegan & Co. posted more than $1.3 billion in revenues in 2010. The firm has more than 3,100 employees, and operates a network of 300 branch locations.