Citigroup: Selling Citi Private Equity Unit

Citigroup Inc. plans to sell or split off its $10 billion Citi Private Equity unit, expanding the list of money-management businesses the U.S. bank is disposing of to reduce debt, people familiar with the matter said.

Citi Private Equity, which takes minority stakes in companies and invests in other buyout funds, oversees about $2 billion of Citigroup’s money. The rest is from outside investors. Managers of the decade-old unit, led by Todd Benson and Darren Friedman, have discussed buying it for themselves alongside new partners or with other financing, one person said.

Benson and Friedman stepped in as co-heads of Citi Private Equity after the January 2009 departure of John Barber, who had led the unit for nine years. Neither of the co-heads returned calls for comment, and Citigroup spokeswoman Shannon Bell declined to comment.

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, the people said. More on Citigroup Private Equity