M&A

1 November, 2009

Goldman in talks to buy Fannie tax credits -WSJ

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) is in talks to buy millions of dollars of tax credits from Fannie Mae (FNM.N), but the U.S. Treasury could block the deal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

Goldman hopes to win approval this week but the administration is leery about approving a deal that would help the bank reduce its tax bill, the Journal reported on its website.

Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant controlled by the U.S. government, could get financial relief if Goldman bought the tax credits, the paper reported.

Goldman could line up other investors for the deal as well, according to the paper.

Representatives for Goldman, Fannie and Treasury could not immediately be reached.

(Reporting by Anupreeta Das; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://www.reuters.com