NEW YORK -LRB- CNNMoney.com -RRB- -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. said Sunday that it is buying troubled Wall Street firm Bear Stearns , amid deepening fears that Bear 's demise could have sent shockwaves across already shaky financial markets . The deal to buy Bear Stearns is worth an estimated $ 236 million . The deal values Bear Stearns at $ 236 million , or just $ 2 a share . Shares had closed at $ 30 on Friday , down 47 percent that day . `` Effective immediately , JPMorgan Chase is guaranteeing the trading obligations of Bear Stearns and its subsidiaries and is providing management oversight for its operations , '' said a statement released Sunday by JPMorgan . Shareholders must approve the deal , which is expected to close by the end of June . JPMorgan is taking immediate responsibility for Bear 's trading obligations and assuming `` management oversight '' of the firm 's operations . The deal has already been approved by the Federal Reserve and other regulators , according to the statement . The Fed is providing special emergency financing for up to $ 30 billion in Bear Stearns assets . `` JPMorgan stands behind Bear Stearns , '' said Jamie Dimon , chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan . `` Bear Stearns clients and counterparties should feel secure that JPMorgan is guaranteeing ... risk , '' he continued . The fast-track deal is expected to close by the end of June , the statement said . Bear Stearns was on the brink of financial collapse Friday when JPMorgan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said they would provide the brokerage a short-term loan . Bear was dealing with a classic `` run on the bank . '' The firm 's short-term creditors refused to lend the firm any more money and simultaneously demanded repayment of outstanding debt . The one-two punch overwhelmed Bear 's cash position . With the global credit crisis worsening , the Fed -- along with officials from the Treasury Department and other government agencies -- took the dramatic action to prevent the investment bank from going under and igniting widespread panic through the financial markets . Watch a discussion on the impact on global markets '' Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Sunday that talks about how to rescue Bear had continued throughout the weekend . He defended the Fed 's bailout on Friday as `` the right decision '' and said the Bush administration was ready to take other actions to bring stability to the financial markets . He would not say what might have happened had the government failed to step in . `` I 'm not going to speculate about what-ifs , '' he said . `` I 'm just going to say our clear priority right now -- our number one priority , everything we 're doing in the economic arena -- is to minimize instability , minimize spillover into the real economy . '' Bear Stearns has approximately 14,000 employees worldwide . The deal marks an inglorious chapter for 85-year-old Bear Stearns , a storied Wall Street firm the unraveling of which has been fast and furious . Rumors that Bear Stearns was on the verge of collapse started buzzing around Wall Street trading desks last Monday . Chief Executive Alan Schwartz -- who took over as CEO in early January from longtime chief Jimmy Cayne -- appeared on television on Wednesday afternoon to reassure the markets that the firm was stable . But by Thursday night , Bear was in a severe crunch . Some firms that trade with it effectively stopped offering it credit because they feared that Bear was running short of short-term funding , or liquidity . `` The past week has been an incredibly difficult time for Bear Stearns , '' said Alan Schwartz , president and CEO of Bear Stearns . `` This transaction represents the best outcome for all of our constituencies based upon the current circumstances . '' White House spokesman Tony Fratto told CNN on Sunday that Paulson has briefed U.S. President George W. Bush on the Federal Reserve 's role in helping to facilitate the purchase . `` We appreciate the actions taken by the Federal Reserve this evening , '' said Fratto . `` Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke are actively engaged in addressing issues affecting our financial markets . Secretary Paulson has kept the President briefed on recent developments . '' Shares of Bear Stearns opened last week at $ 69.75 and traded as high as $ 159 last year . E-mail to a friend