[JURIST] Citigroup Inc. [corporate website] on Thursday announced [press release] that it would not seek to enjoin the acquisition of Wachovia Corp. by Wells Fargo & Co. [corporate websites] but would pursue claims against both financial institutions for alleged breach of contract and tortious interference with contract. Citigroup's decision to abandon negotiations to acquire a substantial portion of Wachovia operations clears the way for the $15.4 billion merger with Wells Fargo, which was proposed [Wachovia press release] last week. Citigroup said in a statement:

We are proud to have been part of an historic transaction that was supported by all of the federal banking agencies and the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the President, and that we carefully designed to avoid systemic stress and to advance the interests of our shareholders....

Without our willingness to engage in this transaction, hundreds of billions of dollars of value would have been seriously threatened. We stood by while others walked away. Now, our shareholders have been unjustly and illegally deprived of the opportunity the transaction created.