Apollo to buy Citigroup’s real estate division

The addition of Citi Property Investors, which has a net portfolio asset value of $3.5bn, would more than triple Apollo’s real estate assets. The portfolio includes 65 investments in 26 countries.

Citigroup has been 27 per cent owned by the US government since 2008, and is under pressure to sell off assets to strengthen its balance sheet. Citi Property Investors employs more than 90 people and manages about $12.5bn in gross real estate assets.

Citi CEO Vikram Pandit, appearing in front of a congressional panel earlier this month, reportedly said that he had sold off many ancillary businesses as part of a focus on back-to-basics banking for US corporations across the world.

Apollo portfolio company Harrah Entertainment, a troubled casino operator, recently reached an agreement with lenders to have the maturity on $5.5bn of its loans delayed until 2015.

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