US Treasury plans to sell 27% stake in Citigroup

The US Treasury expects to sell its 27% Citigroup stake before the end of the year as it looks to profit from one of the largest government investments of the financial crisis.

The Treasury says the sale of 7.7bn Citi shares, which it received in exchange for a bailout of the bank in 2008, will be conducted in an "orderly and measured fashion". While the US Government hoped to begin selling its Citi stake last year, it delayed the plan after the bank's shares fell to about $3.20. Since then, Citi shares have risen by about 30%. At current prices the Treasury would make about $7.5bn in profits on the sale. It has hired bankers at Morgan Stanley to handle the deal.