Four banks have eyes on Citi’s local unit sale

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Four banks, have been shortlisted in the sale of Citigroup’s retail banking business in Turkey and the deal is expected to close in late March or April, banking sources told Reuters Feb. 13.

Turkey’s Garanti Bank, Fibabanka, Denizbank and Odeabank, the Turkish unit of Lebanon’s Audi Bank , were on the shortlist and their final bids had been placed, two of the sources said.

“The process will finish latest by the end of March, beginning of April,” one source said.

Citigroup, the third-biggest U.S. bank, said early in December it would cut 11,000 jobs worldwide to save as much as $1.1 billion a year in costs and that the plan included selling or cutting back consumer operations in countries including Turkey.