If Citigroup Inc. can't have Wachovia Corp., it may as well set its sights on another bank.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the banking giant is in discussions to buy a regional bank that overlaps geographically with Citigroup's retail branch network with a high concentration in the Northeast, California and Texas.
Continue reading below
The story cited people familiar with the talks as saying a deal could be reached this month, but they would not name the target.
Citigroup shares rose 3% in premarket trading on the report.
The Journal added that Wells Fargo & Co.'s successful deal to buy Wachovia has added to tensions between Citigroup executives and directors. Some directors believe they were not sufficiently apprised of what was going on, while some executives complain that the board is trying to wield too much power.
People close to Citigroup told the Journal that senior people at the bank hope an acquisition would boost morale and ease the embarrassment over Wachovia.
Citigroup had agreed in late September to buy Wachovia's banking operations with the backing of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., but
that deal was scuttled when Wells Fargo struck its own deal to buy Wachovia for $15 billion in stock.
- Peter Moreira
Comments
How many hundreds of billions in counterparty risk does Citi have with Lehman? Would you even keep yur accounts there if you knew? True, the regional should take them over except they're too toxic.
On the brighter side, what is Citi's breakup value for stable, efficient buyers?