The Wall StreetJournal lets us know this morning that Citi, ready to move on from last month’s Wachovia-Wells upset, is on the prowl for new bank. But they won’t tell us *which* bank, the scamps. It’s unclear if the blind item is as a result of the “people familiar with the situation” not telling the Journal the name of the bank and they actually don’t know or if this is just some sick game they’re playing with us for sport (“the target’s name couldn’t be determined” could go a lot of ways). Anyway, here are the clues:
- regional bank
- overlaps geographically with Citigroup’s retail-banking unit, which has its highest concentration of branches in the Northeast, California and Texas. A deal could be reached later this month, the people said.
Apparently “insiders” feel that a buy would “pump up morale at Citigroup,” since an internal goal at the firm is to get so fat it can’t tie its own shoes. Kind of cattily though completely awesomely, the J points out that “any acquisition by Citigroup could feel like a consolation prize, because none of the remaining sellers among U.S. banks comes close to Wachovia in size.” Anyway, tell us who it is now.
Comments (67)
Leave a comment
You can log in with your account or comment as a guest below.
Banco Popular!
This is the equvalent of a poker player being “on-tilt” after losing a bad hand…
And how does that usually work out?
suntrust
Comerica
MS?
PNC or VNB?
JP Morgan
Capital One
It will most likely be US Bancorp or PNC. They make the most sense.
@ 9
Wouldn’t US Bancorp be a bit pricey, considering the (relative) lack of distress? Similar story for PNC, no?
9 They do make sense, but where’s the branch overlap?
Comerica
SunTrust? Southeastern bank, based in Atlanta, overlaps, etc.
Yeah, thats what they need to do, another merger. That place is a mess, the next lehman brothers
NCB&T!
HQ in Charlotte, so they can say it is better than WB and justify racin’ tickets. Name sounds like NCNB which will make them think they bought BAC. Only six branches, so they could actually get the integration done.
I’m telling ya, it is a moral booster all around!
Why is everyone wasting time talking about which one makes sense? After all, this is C we’re talking about.
so fat it cant tie its own shoes – love it – wd bess
I’ll put $ on Comerica or Sovereign
Top story on drudge :
Fed defies transparency objective and refuses to identify $2 tril in bank loans
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aatlky_cH.tY&refer=worldwide
We know that the Fed has been steadily lowering the collateral req’ts and they are accepting subprime MBS etc now. This guy has been keeping track of all the Fed lending
http://tinyurl.com/69jjwu
Regions Financial? LOL
They can get Morgan Keegan, a PRE-EMININENT investment franchise on the cheap!!!!!
-mrp
I’m pretty sure Citi has its eyes on a hedge fund, one that can dramatically boost its prestige and client base.
- Fake Tim Sykes
dunno – but now that GS isn’t getting vikram love, how far do you think it falls today?
I heard they look to acquire TGFD – owning the biggest clown on the www would definitely be a morale booster!
@21 – Buy a hedge fund to make up for Vikram’s initial failure at his very own?
@22 – I say $10 bob barker!
-mrp
they should acquire ford and gm, turn the dealer network into bank branches and use the entire personel database as a blacklist for all banking and mortgage products since they’ll all be out of a job by springtime
C buying a bank? Goldman Sachs.
BB&T anyone?
Amegy/ Zions.
MOKE a retail bank? and why would the good ol’ boys in memphuis want to sell?
@24 But this particular hedge fund has been consistently beating the market consistently. One that provides leadership through example to the entire industry. Founded by a maverick who had the courage to face wall street at the age of 22, and restore calm and order in a time of crisis. I think we all know who that hedge fund might be.
- Fake Tim Sykes
Ok, I totally made a spelling mistake in my first post. Grammar Police, forgive me.
-mrp
bank of zamunda…
Not Sovereign — they got bought up by the Spaniards. How about Crestar?
Going to be FULT or FHN
29- They could buy Regions Financial and expand their footprint in the mid-south/southeast. Lotta cotton/pig farmers to sell Shit-i-bank products to! Imagine boasting that you’re the largest commercial bank in Booneville, MS! The possibilities are endless!
-mrp
@31 Uhh, you SHOULD be sorry…
- Grammar Gestapo
forget regional banks, they want insurance again, and who better than AIG? hasn’t the universal bank model proven so effective?
@ 14/16
Bingo
it’s all a ploy to prop up the banks enough, and then John Paulson will file a lawsuit against the treasury for allowing banks to buy up an endless supply of write offs
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/questions-about-a-tax-change-easing-bank-mergers/
and then he’ll be really phat
FULT is my bet…they have been trying to offload that dog for years
Citizens Bank. RBS has it on selling block. Good fit for C since Citizens has big New England footprint.
41 Good call. Also in PA, NJ from Citizen’s acquisition of Mellon’s retail franchise some years ago.
@23 = asswipe
TOGFD
PEOPLES, great NE footprint, non-toxic balance sheet
44 Never could understand the logic of Peoples. True, disciplined operation and great business in CT, but the bulk of it is in northern New England, where growth is just non existant.
Vikram Pandit, a former MS guy that sold Old Lane Partners to C at the right time. Now you have board members like Weill & Rubin that will not admit that they created a dysfunctional firm so they promote Vik to CEO since he drinks the Chiti bank Kool-Aid.
Forget about buying a bank. Fire Vikram and the board to make way for CEO Meredith Whitney, who is by the way the #39 biatch to watch accordign to the WSJ.
Citi might as well take a nap, a dirt nap, if they don’t wake up and make some major changes to the board, senior management and most importatnly to a failed business model. They can keep cutting the work force by 10% until the cows come home, but until they change the direction of the firm it will all be for nothing.
KeyCorp
CITI IS A PILLAR OF STRENGTH PEOPLE….
GOLDMAN IS THE NEXT LEHMAN!!!!!!MS THE NEXT GOLDMAN…..
@46
You mean the business model everyone else is adopting?
Whitney is hack making a living on fear journalism. The longer the recession the longer her careet will be.
the numbers don’t lie…
c: mkt cap ~$66bn, 0.70x bvps, 09 p/e – 8.1x
usb: $51bn, 2.60x, 13.4x – that deal would dilute shareholders and why would us bancorp want to get stuck with c’s crappy assets?
cma: $4bn, 0.72x, 11.5x – better deal, doesn’t dilute shareholders as much, decent us franchise and the ceo knows banking much better than vick.
cof: $14bn, 0.54x, 8.6x – best deal, but you have to worry about the old greenpoint business (that was allegedly shut down). north fork was a well run bank, but kanas (the ceo) left and is about to start a bank backed by wilbur ross. the credit card ops cof and c together would rival bofa.
bottom line, the “better” regionals trade at premium multiples to c. despite the size differential (which minimizes the dilutive effect on c, it’s still a bad trade. if you’re a director at one of the shops that isn’t facing dire straights, why would you sell instead buy?
who the fuck is TOGFD?
Bank of Tibet
Binghamton Savings Bank
i hear Franklin Bank (FBTX) can be had on the cheap…
cheap for a reason…not to mention, “prosperity” took it over last week after they went bk
Can Someone Say FBOP Corporation. It has all the markets the mystery bank indicates. FBOP operates banks in Illinois, California, Texas and Arizona.
well investorcluzo, you have to be a spoilsport dont you ;)
@51 – TOGFD = The Other Guy From Delaware. Where the fuck have you been dweeb?
The Other Guy from Delaware
@unrepentant – sorry bro…
BOA or JPM or maybe even GS or MS?
#54 – Is that The Franklin National Bank?
PVTB
A swift kick in the nuts to JP Morgan in the Midwest.
Huntington National Bank?
chevy chase!
chevy chase!
GFG
Guaranty Financial Group Inc.
The Company’s primary operating entities are Guaranty Bank and Guaranty Insurance Services, Inc.
The Company operates in four business segments: commercial banking, retail banking, insurance agency, and treasury.
Network of over 150 bank branches located in Texas and California.
The insurance agency operates through 17 offices located in both Texas and California.
GFG
Guaranty Financial Group Inc.
The Company’s primary operating entities are Guaranty Bank and Guaranty Insurance Services, Inc.
The Company operates in four business segments: commercial banking, retail banking, insurance agency, and treasury.
Network of over 150 bank branches located in Texas and California.
The insurance agency operates through 17 offices located in both Texas and California.