Citadel Holding Sale Near, SEC Filing Shows

Glendale-based Citadel Holding, for months the subject of takeover rumors, is “close to coming to terms with a potential buyer,” according to a document filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission by a major stockholder.

Investor Alfred Roven, who holds a 9.1% stake in the parent of Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn., said in the filing that he was told May 2 by Citadel management that a sale agreement was near completion.

‘Greatly Exaggerated’

He has asked Citadel management to delay the firm’s annual meeting and rescind several anti-takeover measures in order to facilitate the sale.

However, Citadel Chairman Spencer Scott said that the takeover talk was “greatly exaggerated” and that the firm’s annual meeting would take place May 22 as scheduled.

“We are talking to more than one potential buyer. It is not a done deal,” Scott said. He and President Gerald Barrone were in New York on Tuesday talking to Salomon Bros., the company’s investment banker and adviser on sale negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street risk arbitrage firm Lafer Amster & Co., apparently betting on Citadel’s acquisition, said it had increased its stake in the company to 9.7% from 7.4%.