LASALLE BANK SALE TO BANK OF AMERICA STILL ON TRACK?

Dutch parent ABN entered into an agreement to sell Chicago-based LaSalle Bank to Bank of America Sunday (some reports list Monday), but that deal may be in jeopardy now that Royal Bank of Scotland has formed a consortium that offered $98.58 billion for all ABN banking assets, which is considerably higher than the $88.35 billion offered by Barclays. In an unusually restrictive contract clause ABN's sale of LaSalle to Bank of America will become permanent on May 7 and cannot be reversed, making consideration of the RBS offer an urgent matter.

From SunTimes.com:

The uncertainty centers on whether ABN Amro's surprise move Monday to sell LaSalle Bank Corp. to Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion, as part of its deal with Barclays, can be undone.

ABN Amro said Wednesday other banks have 14 days to submit superior bids for LaSalle. If any does, Bank of America then has five days to match that bid; if it fails to do so, it will receive a $200 million breakup fee.

WSJ.com

CITIGROUP CUTS 17,000 JOBS, SAVES $2.1 BILLION IN 2007

From WSJ.com:

Citigroup Inc., in what's considered its first major overhaul since its formation a decade ago, announced it will save $2.1 billion in 2007 by eliminating 17,000 positions.

The New York financial services giant's long-awaited restructuring will eliminate certain layers of management and reduce its corporate center. Back-office, middle-office and corporate functions will be consolidated, and more than 9,500 jobs will be moved to lower-cost locations, domestically and internationally.

Citigroup sees savings of $3.7 billion in 2008 and $4.6 billion in 2009. It will take a charge of $871 million in the first quarter and pretax charges of $200 million over the rest of 2007. The company will release its first-quarter results Monday.

Over the past year, Citigroup's stock has underperformed hometown rival J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Corp. Last summer, Citigroup's largest individual shareholder, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, demanded that the company take "draconian" steps to reduce expenses.