Germans Aren't Courting Wachovia, Analysts Say

Word in Europe has it that the bidding war for Wachovia (WB Quote) may soon go global. But banking experts and Wachovia itself were throwing cold water on that notion Monday.

A number of German news reports this weekend suggested that Deutsche Bank, which has made no secret of its desire to expand in the U.S., was considering entering the bidding fray for Wachovia. The reports, picked up Monday in the weekly Der Spiegel, included word that Wachovia had asked Deutsche Bank to act as a white knight. First Union (FTU Quote) and SunTrust (STI Quote) currently are locked in a nasty battle for control of Wachovia.

Wachovia wasn't encouraging any of that talk. A spokesman for the bank declined to comment directly on the speculation, citing company policy. But he stressed that "Wachovia has a binding merger agreement with First Union and is on track to close the merger as planned." Deutsche Bank didn't return calls seeking comment.

Fox Guarding the Hens

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