Despite trouble in the financial industry and banks’ plummeting stock prices, well-positioned companies are not making a move to acquire troubled banks, CNN Money reported.

In recent weeks, rumors suggested that Wells Fargo & Co., one of the better performing banking companies, was considering buying Washington Mutual Inc. or Wachovia Corp., but its CEO, John Stumpf, told the Financial Times this week that his company was not focused on its larger rivals. Korea Development Bank also was reportedly eyeing Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., but since then, there have been doubts whether it will make a bid after the overseas firm’s regulator warned it to be cautious in pursuing an acquisition.

This hesitation is largely due to fears about inheriting another firm’s financial problems, said Robert DeYoung, a professor of finance at the University of Kansas School of Business. Firms also may struggle over how to value a company, with potential buyers wanting to purchase companies at deep discounts, which target institutions might resist.

Failed banks may be cheaper and easier to acquire, because the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) typically takes out the worst of the bank’s business and sells the strong assets and deposits.

Already nine banks have failed this year. Analysts are expected to learn how many more are failing when the FDIC publishes its quarterly reading today. Ninety institutions were on the agency’s list of problem banks at the end of the first quarter.