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Citicorp, AmEx talks die
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December 13, 1996: 12:16 p.m. ET
Report: 2 had been in merger talks, but ended negotiations last week
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- Citicorp and American Express Co. reportedly terminated previously undisclosed merger talks last week, ending negotiations that could have produced the largest merger in U.S. history.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Citicorp had opened talked in November about acquiring American Express -- a deal potentially worth $25 billion, based on American Express' current market value.
Citicorp declined to comment on the matter, while American Express issued a statement saying it was not engaged in merger discussions.
However, the Journal said American Express Chairman Harvey Golub had held several sets of talks with Citicorp Chairman John Reed about a potential deal.
The Journal said the talks might have broken down because of any merger's high price, as well as the possibility that Citicorp would have had to cut ties to Visa and MasterCard, American Express' credit-card rivals.
Nonetheless, the paper said rumors of a CitiCorp/American Express merger surfaced on Wall Street earlier this week, leading to heavy trading of both financial-service giants' stocks.
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