Updsted from 12:14 a.m. EST

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) --

Citigroup

(C) - Get Report

plans to sell or split off its $10 billion Citi Private Equity unit, a report says, as part of the bank's effort to reduce debt.

Citi Private Equity takes minority stakes in companies and invests in other buyout funds. It oversees about $2 billion of Citigroup's money,

Bloomberg

reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

The unit's managers have discussed buying Citi Private Equity themselves along with new partners or with other financing,

Bloomberg

reports.

Citigroup plans to keep Metalmark Capital, a buyout firm the bank bought in late 2007, the report says.

Bloomberg

also reports that other money-management units marked for sale or closure include the Citi Property Investors real-estate unit, which oversees $12.5 billion, and the Hedge Fund Management Group, which allocates money to hedge funds on behalf of its own investors.

Citigroup's decision to sell Citi Private Equity was made last year, before President Barack Obama in January proposed banks be forced to unload their private-equity firms and hedge funds, the people familiar with the matter said,

Bloomberg

adds.

Citigroup shares were slightly higher Monday in premarket trading, rising to $3.345. The stock closed at $3.32 on Friday.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel in New York.

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