Banamex

The Wall Street Journal citing the people familiar with the situation around Citigroup Inc reported on its website that the company is closing in on the deal with the U.S. government to increase it ownership in the bank to as much as 40%, confirming thus speculations that were spread before. The deal could be announced today, on Thursday.

According to the latest reports by Reuters potential buyers of the assets of Citigroup are not interested in what the company is offering at the moment. Instead ‘would-be suitors have more interest in the parts of the business that Citi would like to keep’.

Among those investors who would like to bite a piece of Citi is Texas billionaire Gerald J. Ford. He wants to purchase bank assets and branches that make up the former Golden State Bancorp which he sold to Citi 7 years ago for $6 billion.