Wachovia Confident Deal Will Go Ahead

Detroit Free Press (10/06/08); Lepro, Sara
Wachovia Corp. says it is proceeding with a deal to sell itself to Wells Fargo even after New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos issued an order temporarily blocking the $14.8 billion transaction. Citigroup accused Wells Fargo of trying to cut off its earlier $2.1 billion takeover bid for Wachovia's banking operations in a deal engineered with the help of the FDIC. In its request to Ramos, Citigroup invoked an exclusivity clause in its agreement that bars Wachovia from entering negotiations with other potential buyers. Because New York's Supreme Court is a trial-level court, the litigation among the three banks could go on for some time.