Warren Buffett Appears in Multibillion Bidding for Citi's (C) OneMain Unit
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Citi (NYSE: C) has been aiming to unload it's troubled consumer-lending business unit, OneMain Financial, for months on end now, with talks mostly stagnant.
However, one company joining the bidding war might just have enough clout to push a decision through.
According to sources, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) may be part of unit making a bid for Citi's consumer-lending business, formerly known as Citi Financial.
Berkshire might be part of a consortium, including Centerbridge Partners and Leucadia National Corp., in a bid, which could fetch up to $8 billion in a sale, the WSJ notes.
To pay for the purchase, the consortium might write an equity check as well as finance the deal through borrowing.
Citi has been in contact with two other groups in the possible sale of the unit; talks have been going on for months, with forward progress only recently being noted.
OneMain has a book value of about $2 billion, but assets that extend far beyond that number. Berkshire's presence may be a tipping point for its consortium to win the bid, as Citi is likely to want a well-capitalized group to acquire the business in order to retain stability for OneMain.
Citi is trading about 0.2 percent better pre-market, while Berkshire is flat.
However, one company joining the bidding war might just have enough clout to push a decision through.
According to sources, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) may be part of unit making a bid for Citi's consumer-lending business, formerly known as Citi Financial.
Berkshire might be part of a consortium, including Centerbridge Partners and Leucadia National Corp., in a bid, which could fetch up to $8 billion in a sale, the WSJ notes.
To pay for the purchase, the consortium might write an equity check as well as finance the deal through borrowing.
Citi has been in contact with two other groups in the possible sale of the unit; talks have been going on for months, with forward progress only recently being noted.
OneMain has a book value of about $2 billion, but assets that extend far beyond that number. Berkshire's presence may be a tipping point for its consortium to win the bid, as Citi is likely to want a well-capitalized group to acquire the business in order to retain stability for OneMain.
Citi is trading about 0.2 percent better pre-market, while Berkshire is flat.
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