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Potential buyers seek only Citi's good parts: report
2009-02-17
Citigroup's (C.N) quest to raise cash by selling assets is falling flat as would-be suitors have more interest in the parts of the business that Citi would like to keep, the New York Post said on Tuesday. One potential investor is Texas billionaire Gerald J. Ford, who is interested in buying back bank assets and branches that make up the former Golden State Bancorp which Citi bought from Ford seven years ago for nearly $6 billion, the paper said, citing sources. Potential buyers are also interested in Mexican bank Banamex, which Citi bought for $12.5 billion eight years ago, the newspaper added. Citigroup spokesman Jon Diat said last week Citi had no intention of selling Banamex, which it sees as a key component of Citicorp. The assets that make up Citi's so-called bad bank, businesses seen as non-core and at the heart of a strategy to raise much-needed capital, are garnering little interest, the paper cited investment bankers as saying. The assets include CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage and Primerica, which has been for sale for more than a year, the newspaper said. Those businesses are not drawing buyers because they are in sectors facing the strongest headwinds, the paper said, citing sources. Citigroup is splitting into two operating units in what is known as a "good bank/bad bank" strategy. Citigroup could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)
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