That’s what the Financial TImes is suggesting after ABN Amro was successfully targetted by activist investors and forced to sell itself.
Senior Citigroup executives fear the world’s biggest financial services company could become the target of activist hedge funds that would press for it to be broken up.
The executives believe Citigroup needs to step up its investor relations and explain better to shareholders the value of keeping its businesses together.
Many have dismissed the possibility that Citigroup, valued at $260bn, could become an activist target. But one Citigroup executive said: “Even Citigroup is not too big. It’s not impossible.”
Concerns have heightened following the campaign by The Children’s Investment Fund, an activist investor group, to force the break-up of ABN
Amro, the Dutch banking group. This has resulted in a bid battle between Barclays and a consortium of banks seeking to break it up.Chuck Prince, Citigroup’s chief executive, is under pressure to boost its stagnant share price. Critics say the group is too big and complex to manage and that smaller specialist financial companies tend to perform better.
Citigroup chiefs fear push for break-up – Financial Times
