Wells Fargo makes a counter bid pipping Citi’s Pandit

Vikram Pandit, the CEO of Citigroup is not a happy man and is frankly red faced. Their exclusivity agreement with Wachovia notwithstanding, Wells Fargo made a counter bid for Wachovia and Citi ‘which never sleeps’ was really caught napping!

Now, Citigroup (NYSE: C) has filed a lawsuit against Wachovia for trying to sell itself to a higher bidder though they (Wachovia) had an exclusivity agreement with Citi. They have a quiet period for the next few days but the arguments will begin again. Its interesting to see whether Wachovia will be split with some geographic areas and branches going to Citi while the rest go to Wells Fargo.