Bank of America Corp. has completed a $2.5 billion acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp, clearing the way for the nation’s second largest commercial bank to turn around the nation’s largest mortgage lender.

Countrywide shareholders on Tuesday received 0.1822 of a share of BofA stock in exchange for each share of Calabasas-based Countrywide. The deal was valued at $4 billion when first announced on Jan. 11, but BofA’s share price has since dropped from $38.50 to Monday’s close of $23.87.

BofA said last week estimated it would need to cut 7,500 jobs over the next two years in connection with the acquisition, with many of reductions likely to take place in at Countrywide’s Calabasas headquarters and operations in surrounding communities in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank holding company said cuts would focus on where the two companies had overlapping operations. The bank expects to start originating mortgage and home equity products under the Bank of America brand by mid-2009. With the acquisition, BofA now controls between 20 percent and 25 percent of the nation’s home loan market.