Citi Finances Itself

Ponzi Financing At Citigroup
by Michael Shedlock

Citigroup is cash strapped. To raise cash it has agreed to sell $12 billion worth of leveraged loans it was holding at a reported 90 cents on the dollar. Earlier today in Less Than Meets The Eye at Citigroup, Goldman I noted that in order for Citigroup to get a price of $12 billion for the loan portfolio it sold, it had to agree to indemnify the buyers of the first 20% of losses. Tonight more details are emerging.

Reuters is reporting Citi financing its $12 bln sale of loans:

Citigroup Inc's (C) plan to sell $12 billion of loans and bonds made to private equity firms is seen as a positive for the bank and the loan market, but the deal will leave the largest U.S. bank with exposure to those private equity firms even after the sale.

That's because Citi is financing much of the sale itself, according to a person familiar with the deal. It is lending some money to the private equity firms, which will combine it with some of their own money to purchase the debt.

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