The Wachovia Corporation, devastated by its acquisition two years ago of Oakland’s Golden West Financial Corp., announced a $23.9 billion third-quarter loss on Wednesday. Wachovia, which is being taken over by Wells Fargo & Co. after nearly collapsing last month, has reported a host of troubles.

The company’s bad loans jumped 21% during the quarter, deposits from businesses plunged, losses on mortgage-backed securities soared, and the bank added $6.6 billion to its provisions for credit losses because of the weak economy and battered housing markets in California and Florida.

To top it all, the biggest factor was an $18.7-billion charge reflecting the eroded value of acquisitions, mainly the $24-billion purchase of Golden West, completed in October 2006 as housing prices peaked.

Wachovia’s quarterly loss appears to be one of the largest in banking history. The record-setting loss translated into $11.18 a share, compared with net income of $1.6 billion, or 85 cents a share, in the period a year earlier.

Only about a month back, Wachovia’s chief executive, Robert K. Steel, had told investors that the company was strong enough to remain independent. But the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual added onto Wachovia’s woes.

The sudden withdrawal of corporate deposits led regulators to seek a suitor. Wells Fargo agreed to pay $15.1 billion in an all-stock deal that is worth about $14 billion at present because of a decline in Wells Fargo’s share price.

John Stumpf, Wells Fargo’s chief executive, said in a statement: “Wachovia’s third-quarter results were very much in line with our expectations.” Wells Fargo said it was “on track” to complete the merger as planned in the fourth quarter.