Citigroup Inc. has agreed to sell a unit that lends to the trucking industry to General Electric Co. for about US$4.4bn in cash. The business provides financing, leasing, and asset-based lending. It has about 600 employees, two-thirds of whom are in Dallas. The rest are in Toronto.
Citigroup said the divested business doesn't offer viable cross-selling opportunities. The deal is the last in a series of recent sales of leasing businesses at its CitiCapital unit.
Citigroup will recognize a gain of about US$90m from the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close as early as the end of 2004.
Source: MSNBC
