A North Carolina court issued a temporary restraining order Sunday preventing Citigroup Inc. from enforcing an "exclusivity agreement" it signed with Wachovia as part of a $2.1 billion deal to buy the Charlotte, N.C. bank.
One of the plaintiffs in the case was Leslie "Bud" Baker, Wachovia's former chief executive officer. A North Carolina Superior Court, in issuing the order, said "there is significant evidence that Citigroup has taken and continues to take actions designed to cause the seizure or collapse of Wachovia."
Wachovia shareholders "will be irreparably harmed" without immediate action from the court, said the judge presiding in the case.
Following the announcement of the Wells Fargo-Wachovia combination last Friday, "Citigroup has taken steps apparently designed to cause the Wachovia/Wells Fargo merger to fail."
