Citigroup is in advanced talks to sell its $4-billion hedge fund business to US-based SkyBridge Capital, says a media report.
Attributing to people familiar with the plan, The Wall Street Journal reported SkyBridge Capital is in advanced talks to buy Citi's hedge fund business with about $4 billion in assets.
According to the publication, the assets Citi plans to sell include about $1 billion of hedge funds, $2.5 billion in hedge-fund assets that it advises directly, and $500 million of investment in small hedge funds.
However, no pact has yet been signed, and the proposed sale price could not be determined, the report said.
Citi's core fund-of-fund investments gained about 21 per cent in 2009, slightly better than the average for hedge funds world-wide.
The report noted that Citi management team overseeing the assets is expected to remain in their roles as part of the deal.
Citi last year earmarked to sell $715 billion in non-core assets amid the global financial turmoil and the US government taking an ownership stake in the banking entity.