CHARLOTTE -- Some people in Charlotte may be breathing a sigh of relief on Friday, after Citigroup decided to step away from negotiations to buy Wachovia.

After nearly a week of talks with Wells Fargo, executives with the bank said they couldn’t reach an agreement. It had originally appeared last Monday that Citigroup would buy portions of Wachovia for $2 billion. A few days later, Wells Fargo stepped in and offered over $15 billion for the whole company.

Friday around noon, it was announced that federal antitrust regulators had cleared a $11.7 billion Wells Fargo deal for Wachovia.

“When the news hit last Monday [about the Citigroup deal], it was like a morgue,” said Wachovia employee Kathleen Mulligan. “And then I guess as Wells Fargo got involved, more of us got excited because at least more of us will be get to keep our jobs.”

Local economists say the Wells Fargo deal is a much better one for the bank and city as that merger would save jobs in Charlotte and create the country’s fourth-largest bank.

“This is the best of all possible solutions to the problems with Wachovia from the standpoint of Charlotte, the shareholders of Wachovia and the employees that work in this market for the bank,” said UNC Charlotte financial expert Tony Plath.

There are still several hurdles to overcome before the deal is sealed.

First, Citigroup says they are planning to sue Wachovia and Wells Fargo for breach of contract. Citigroup says they had an exclusivity deal with Wachovia and are going to seek $60 billion in damages. That case will proceed in New York Supreme Court.

"We can expect to see [Citigroup] in the Delaware Chancery Court arguing that Wachovia breached the exclusivity arrangement,” said Plath. “We'll have to see how the lawyers and the courts fight that out."

Regardless of the lawsuit, Wachovia employees are glad that an end is potentially near.

“For the past week we've all been waiting and waiting and wondering and worrying,” said Plath. “And this ends all of the waiting and wondering and watching and we can breathe a sigh of relief."

It’s likely jobs will still be lost in Charlotte. Economists say they believe it will be less than the expected layoffs predicted with the Citigroup deal.

Shareholders now have to vote on the deal.

Some information from The Associated Press was used in this report.