HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) – Citigroup Inc is looking to bring on board veteran Wall Street executive and former Morgan Stanley official Vikram Pandit for a top job at the financial services group, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

It said that Citigroup is trying to lure Pandit by buying Old Lane LP, the hedge-fund firm that Pandit launched last year with other Morgan Stanley alumni, in a deal that could exceed 600 mln usd.

The talks are still in progress, and could fall apart without an agreement, the report said.

If the deal is completed, Pandit would become chief executive of Citigroup’s alternative-investments unit, bringing him into Citigroup Chief Executive Charles Prince’s top management team, it said.
Pandit also would join a small circle of Citigroup executives considered strong candidates to one day succeed Prince, the paper noted.

A Citigroup spokeswoman declined to comment, while Pandit and other Old Lane officials were not available for comment, it said.

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