Citigroup dispute may split Wachovia

Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co may end up dividing Wachovia Corp, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank staggered by almost $53 billion of mortgage-related losses.

Wells Fargo's $15.1 billion offer on Oct 3 trumped New York-based Citigroup's $2.16 billion bid for parts of Wachovia, setting up a takeover fight for a bank with 20 million customers and almost $450 billion of deposits.

"Citi's purchase was too cheap for the assets and operations involved," said Jason Pride, research director at Haverford Trust Co in Haverford, Pennsylvania, which held about 70,000 Wachovia shares at the end of June.