North Carolina treasurer Richard Moore is gearing up to fight the planned banking merger of Charlotte-based Wachovia with San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.

The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday that Moore will instruct the North Carolina pension fund to vote the 3.2 million shares of Wachovia stock it owns against the Wells Fargo deal.

The pension fund has lost more than $100 million on its investment in Wachovia in the past year. Wachovia was on the brink of collapse last month before Wells Fargo swept in with a higher offer than rival Citigroup's bid.

Moore said the merger price, now estimated at nearly $13 billion, is still too low.

The treasurer called it "highway robbery."