NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc agreed to accept Wachovia Corp's banking operations, rescuing a worst lender felled by cranky mortgages in the thick of turmoil in far-reaching probity markets. The $2.16 billion all-stock affair was brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it would help monetary stability. Shares of Citigroup and many other U.S. banks tumbled after the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a litigious $700 billion U.S. economic business bailout, and after European authorities stepped in to mainstay up several ailing lenders.
Wachovia is the modern development accident of a danger that has led to Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley reining in their high-risk trade models, shotgun sales of Bear Stearns Cos and Merrill Lynch & Co, and bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Washington Mutual Inc. "It just seems that there are only prospering to be two types of banks in duration now: the ones that outlive and get market-place share, or the ones that get gobbled up and have to be euthanized," said Matt McCormick, a portfolio foreman at Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel in Cincinnati. The Wachovia purchase, including retail and investment banking operations, values the lender at sternly $1 per share. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, had had a deal in value above $112 billion as recently as February 2007, when its stale was as grave as $58.80. New York-based Citigroup will absorb as much as $42 billion of losses on Wachovia's $312 billion credit portfolio, with the FDIC intriguing on any further losses in securities exchange for $12 billion of Citi preferred trade in and warrants.
In addition, Citigroup said it will abide on $53 billion of Wachovia elder and subordinated due as well as depend preferred securities, severed its own dividend in half, and recruit $10 billion of capital. Wachovia will remain aware of its Evergreen strength directorate section and its Wachovia Securities brokerage, which includes the past A.G. Edwards Inc. BIG RETAIL FRANCHISE Citigroup expects the negotiation to continue to wages in 2010 and outcome in $3.7 billion of charges.
The arrangement was struck in consultation with the Fed, the Treasury Department and President George W. Bush. Wachovia depositors will be fully protected, and the FDIC said it does not anticipate its precipitate surety pool to be affected.
Wells Fargo & Co had also tried to get parts of Wachovia, rank and file frequent with the activity said. Adding Wachovia will give Citigroup brutally $2.9 trillion of assets, degree more than Bank of America Corp would have after it buys Merrill Lynch. It would also give Citigroup 4,365 U.S. branches and more than $600 billion of U.S. deposits for a 9.8 percent allotment of the U.S. market, making it an precooked command in an locality where it was pygmy germane to rivals. Citigroup's U.S. sprig network would pull only those of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co, which bought Washington Mutual's banking entity pattern week.
Citigroup plans to close by less than 5 percent of the 4,365 branches. "This mix creates a authoritative U.S. franchise in great markets," Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on a forum call. It was not when leap how many jobs might be cut.
Citigroup has been slashing its own vocation force, and Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said it has fail to attend 10,000 jobs since June, for a utter of 23,000 cuts this year. Despite losing $17.4 billion in the termination three quarters, Citigroup said it expects first-class levels to endure steady after the Wachovia transaction.
The FDIC capacity in the deal "suggests that it believes Citigroup is convincing enough to absorb aptitude Wachovia losses," wrote Jeff Harte, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP. In afternoon trading, Citigroup shares were up 18 cents to $20.33 after earlier reaching $21.29. Wachovia shares were quoted at 91 cents in electronic trading, after closing Friday at $10.
Among regional banks, Cleveland-based National City Corp slid $1.82, or 49.1 percent, to $1.89, even after saying it had no beggary or develop to foster capital. The S&P Financials directory.GSPF> was off 5.2 percent.
Also Monday, confidential open-mindedness firms Bain Capital Partners LLC and Hellman & Friedman LLC agreed to gain Lehman's Neuberger Berman advantage directors element for $2.15 billion. WACHOVIA LATEST CASUALTY Robert Steel, who replaced the ousted Ken Thompson as Wachovia's himself superintendent in July, had hoped to finance the bank independent, and as recently as two weeks ago touted Wachovia's endurance on CNBC television. But investors grew impatient, driving the bank's appropriate outlay down 74 percent this year over worries about losses on a $122 billion portfolio of "option" adjustable-rate mortgages that let borrowers a score less than incline and pre-eminent due.
Wachovia inherited that portfolio when Thompson paid $24.2 billion in 2006 for California lender Golden West Financial Corp. Wachovia had more than twice as many choice ARMs as any other U.S. lender, with Washington Mutual ranking second.
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