Is the Citigroup acquisition of Deutsche Bank AG back on? Shares of Germany's biggest bank saw as much as six percent gain today (they're up 4.7% right now), and the rumor is everywhere. There were talks of an acquisition three years ago but they fell apart over fears of political fall-out.
Update: Bloomberg's on the story.
First the confirmation that the rumor is driving up the share price:
"We heard a rumor Citigroup might bid for Deutsche Bank,'' said Joerg Treptow, a trader at M.M. Warburg & Co. KGaA in Hamburg. "This is boosting the shares today.''
Next the analyst who is skeptical about the rumor.
"I place very little credibility on this speculation,'' said Jon Peace, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Ltd in London. Integrating the banks' investment-banking units would be "very costly," and Citigroup could expand consumer banking in Germany through other banks, he said.
Deutsche Bank Shares Surge on Takeover Speculation [Bloomberg]
Posted by bd, Apr 20, 2007 12:23PM
let's see what chuck prince has to say.
"And I would like to say, while I’m talking about deals, every time I see in the paper or a wire story that we’re about to buy Barclays or SocGen, I just grit my teeth. We can’t comment when these rumors come up because you can’t comment on rumors as they come up. But I’m giving this not in the context of a rumor, but just in terms of my general view. I think I’ve been crystal clear on the kinds of transactions we want to do and where we want to go. And when I see something that says we’re about to buy SocGen, as fine an institution as that is, I don’t know whether people are trying to intentionally manipulate markets or what, but I’ve been crystal clear that buying a big bank in western Europe is not on my agenda. So hopefully that won’t come up too often in the future."
make of that what you will