Citi to Offload Redecard Stake

Citi, which owns 24% of Brazilian credit card giant Redecard, plans to divest its holdings in the company. Redecard filed a statement Friday with the CVM saying Citi was contemplating a secondary share sale in the public market. A year ago, Citi held 161m shares. It sold 41m in a follow on in March, which leaves it with 120m units. At Friday’s closing price of BRL24.70, a full sale of its shares could generate gross proceeds of BRL2.97bn, though any offer is likely to be done at a discount to the current price, say bankers. In addition, a Wall Street Journal report surfaced Friday suggesting that Itau-Unibanco would seek to acquire the shares as well. The report was unconfirmed. FIG bankers away from the deal speculate any M&A would be advised by each sides’ respective banking units, Itau BBA and Citi. Redecard shares fell 7.5% Friday.