Some executives within Citigroup are pushing for the US banking giant to make a bid for ABN Amro, which is in discussions about a possible merger with Barclays, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Citigroup is studying whether to make a bid for ABN Amro, the Netherlands' biggest bank, and could make a hostile bid, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Spokespeople for both banks declined to comment. Barclays has clinched an exclusive agreement to negotiate with ABN Amro and has drawn up a broad merger outline for a combined bank worth more than $166 billion that would be listed in London, headquartered in Amsterdam and have its two top jobs split.