If Citigroup pursued a reverse split, it could give a facelift to its share price. Citigroup could end up increasing its total outstanding shares from 15 billion to between 40 billion and 60 billion, a big number even for a large publicly traded corporation.
The reverse split that Citigroup asked investors to provisionally approve on Thursday would be a first in the company's history. The bank disclosed Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will seek approval to eventually consolidate its outstanding shares through one of seven different ratios, ranging from 1-for-2 to 1-for-30.