What If Citi Gets Sold?

Posted: March 26, 2007 at 4:55 am

There are several big banks that might like to have Citi’s (C) consumer bank network in the US and abroad. HSBC (HBC) comes to mind. So do BNP Paribus and UBS.

The investment banking busines might be a nice fit at Goldman Sachs (GS) or Morgan Stanley (MS). Deutsche Bank (DB) and Bank of Scotland might like bigger footprints in the M&A and corporate finance business. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, Citi’s big shareholder, should not be so concered with Chuck Prince, the bank’s CEO. He should be more concerned with the bank’s unfocused structure.

Several companies would pay a lot for the pieces, and, as the Barclays/ABN deal shows, there is an appetite for big banking deal.

So, let the games begin.

Douglas A. McIntrye

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