NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup's (C_) investment bank was a key player in setting up the deal between Berkshire Hathaway(BRK.B_) and Lubrizol(LZ_), putting the bank at the center of a deal that may have resulted in the departure of David Sokol.
According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, Citigroup and advisory firm Evercore Partners acted as a "financial advisor" to Lubrizol in the recent past, helping the chemical company with "strategic alternatives [including] several large potential acquisition opportunities."
At the same time, Citigroup was also pitching possible acquisitions ideas to Berkshire's Sokol.
According to SEC documents, Citi handed Sokol a list of 18 companies late last year -- including Lubrizol, as possible acquisition or investment targets. At a Dec. 13, 2010 meeting, Sokol and Citigroup discussed the list, and "during the course of the meeting, Mr. Sokol said that the only company on Citi's list that he found interesting was Lubrizol," the filings said.
Following the list discussion, Citigroup bankers set up a meeting between Sokol and Lubrizol's management.
According to published reports, Sokol bought about 96,000 shares of Lubrizol in January -- a month after expressing interest in the company as a possible acquisition to Citigroup and two weeks before recommending the chemical company to Berkshire as a target.
Read on.
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