News In Brief

Chicago bank said poised to bid on troubled rival

First Chicago Corporation, the holding company of Chicago's second-largest bank, is preparing to make a bid for its financially troubled archrival, Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Company, according to a published report.

Continental received a financial-assistance package Thursday totaling about $ 7.5 billion -- the largest bailout in US banking history. It features an emergency $5.5 billion line of credit from a consortium of 28 major banks and $2 billion in capital from the federal government and a group of commercial banks.