Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs Band Together For NY Fed CDO Bid To Outbid Bank of America Corporation And Other Wall Street Dealers-DJ

Dow Jones reported that Citigroup Inc, Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are banding together to outbid five other Wall Street dealers for some $7.5 billion in complex commercial mortgage-backed securities taken on by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the 2008 bailout of American International Group. The three dealers in note to investors said that their process will ensure the most competitive bid for the commercial real estate collateralized debt obligations. The New York Fed last week said it has asked eight dealers to present bids for the so-called CRE CDOs in a portfolio known as Maiden Lane III. The central bank initiated the competitive bidding in response to several inquiries to buy the debt, which is part of the $47 billion of debt held in the portfolio. The group of three is bidding against units of Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of America Corporation, Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings, Inc. It plans to have preliminary 'price thoughts' on the CRE CDOs on Tuesday after receiving bids from its investor clients, according to the note. Final bids are due to the New York Fed on April 26.