The report comes as Citigroup is also said to be a bidder for Chevy Chase Bank, a Maryland-based lender with $11.4 billion in deposits and 292 branches - a deal that could be in jeopardy because of Citigroup's sinking stock price.
Citigroup's shares tumbled below $5 a share Thursday to their lowest level in more than 15 years, despite a Saudi prince's decision to boost his stake in the company to 5 percent from less than 4 percent. The shares traded as high as $35.29 in the past 52 weeks.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is a longtime investor in Citigroup, and it wasn't clear whether his roughly $350 million investment would be used to buy new shares issued directly by Citigroup, or to buy stock from other shareholders in open market transactions.
Citigroup is considered the most vulnerable among the major U.S. banks, failing to turn a profit in the past four quarters when rivals such as New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Charlotte's Bank of America Corp. managed to do so.
Concerns are growing that the deteriorating economy and still-turbulent markets will slam Citigroup with more write-downs in the coming quarters. What began as a subprime residential mortgage crisis has ballooned into a full-blown debt crisis, escalating defaults in everything from leveraged loans to credit card debt to commercial real estate loans.
The bank has been rushing to get leaner and wind down its assets backed by risky debt. On Monday, Citigroup said it will cut 53,000 jobs, on top of 22,000 cuts previously announced. Then on Wednesday, the bank said it is acquiring the remaining $17.4 billion in assets held by complex debt products known as structured investment vehicles that it previously ran off its balance sheet.
Citigroup shares rose 56 cents, or almost 12 percent, to $5.27 in premarket trading. Shares closed Thursday at $4.71.
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