Citi Considers Partial Sale of OneMain: Report

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup (C) may retain a minority stake in its consumer finance business rather than sell the entire franchise as initially planned, according to a news report.

The business, once known as CitiFinancial but rebranded as OneMain Financial, has about $13 billion in assets and may deliver as much to Citi in a sale. There are several groups of investors, including a bank and several big private equity firms, reportedly bidding on the business.

On Tuesday, Reuters cited anonymous sources who said Citi may retain a stake in the unit and is offering partial financing to interested bidders.

Among the interested parties are reportedly a group that includes BlackRock (BLK), KKR (KKR), Warburg Pincus and potentially Banco Santander (STD). Another group includes private equity firms Brysam Global Partners, Blackstone (BX), Carlyle Group, Thomas H. Lee Partners and WL Ross & Co. while another includes Apollo Management and J.C. Flowers & Co.; and yet another consisting of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Toronto-based Onex Corp. (OCX). Bloomberg outlined those bidders in an earlier article.

It's still unclear who will win the bidding war or how a deal will be structured, particularly because of its size. Citi has acknowledged that it's pursuing a divestiture of the consumer finance business, but has declined to provide additional details, as is typical of deals that are still in early stages.

-- Written by Lauren Tara LaCapra in New York.

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