Citigroup Inc. (C) and Wachovia Corp. (WB) both claimed victory Sunday following a hearing in a federal court in New York related to the two companies' souring deal agreement.
Previously, Citigroup had scored a win Saturday night, when the Supreme Court of the State of New York granted the banking giant's motion to temporarily prevent Wachovia from negotiating a merger with anybody but Citi. Citigroup had agreed in principle to buy Wachovia's banking operations Monday, Sept. 29.
Wachovia rushed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Sunday to obtain a restraining order preventing Citi from interfering with Wachovia's deal to sell the entire company to Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), which was announced Friday. That deal collided with an agreement in principle Wachovia had struck with Citi on Monday, where Citi would buy Wachovia's banking operations.
The hearing was oral, and no written decision was available, but both sides claimed gains from Sunday's hearing. Judge John George Koeltl was not immediately available for comment.
A spokeswoman for Wachovia said, "We are pleased that Judge Koeltl granted our motion for expedited resolution of the exclusivity agreement between Wachovia and Citigroup."
Citi had not objected to an expedited proceeding, but a spokeswoman said: "We are very pleased that Wachovia's motions for emergency injunctive relief and a temporary restraining order were denied today in Federal Court."
