Citigroup Mulls German Divestment

Frankfurt, Germany (AHN) - Citigroup Inc. plans to sell its German retail bank Citibank Privatkunden AG & Co. KgaA as part of its global restructuring effort.

Reports citing analysts have estimated Citibank Germany to have a price tag of between $4 billion to $9.3 billion.

"Citi CEO Vikram Pandit recently conducted intensive business reviews of all of our global businesses to optimize Citi for future growth and we continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance our operations worldwide," Citibank spokesman Bjoern Korschinowski was quoted as saying by Dow Jones.

Earlier this month, Pandit announced plans of shedding off about $400 billion of assets in the next three years. The German unit has 340 branches and is the biggest consumer-lender in the country.

Korschinowski said that Citgroup is "exploring a variety of options" for its German banking business, which, with a return on equity of 49.7 percent, was the most profitable in the consumer lending market in 2007. However, the German unit posted a net income of $565.71 million in 2007, 16 percent lowen than the prior year.

The divestment excludes Citigroup Global Markets Deutschland AG & Co. KGaA, Citigroup's corporate and investment banking operations in Germany.

Citigroup employs about 6,800 employees in Germany and services some 3.2 million customers.