By Dakin Campbell Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc. said the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is seeking to end an agreement to buy the bank’s stock, or to receive more than $4 billion in damages. Abu Dhabi Investment, one of the world’s top two sovereign wealth funds, filed a claim alleging “fraudulent misrepresentations” tied to its agreement to buy $7.5 billion of common stock, Citigroup said today in a statement. “Citi believes the allegations are entirely without merit and intends to defend against them vigorously,” according to the statement. Abu Dhabi Investment purchased Citigroup equity units in November 2007, the bank said. The units require Citigroup to remarket junior-ranking debt securities and use the proceeds to buy Citigroup common stock in four equal installments starting next March, according to a 2007 statement from the bank. Citigroup has declined 89 percent since the end of November 2007. It fell 14 cents to $3.56 today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen declined to comment. The investment authority, created in 1976, managed $328 billion at the end of last year, according to estimates by economists at the Council on Foreign Relations. To contact the reporter on this story: Dakin Campbell in San Francisco at dcampbell27@bloomberg.net
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Citigroup Says Abu Dhabi Wants Out of Deal to Buy $7.5 Billion of Stock
