Sep. 6--Citigroup Inc. may be exploring a sale of its Texas retail banks, banking industry experts said Friday.

Rob Julavits, a Citi spokesman, declined to comment on what he termed "market rumors."

But Houston-based investment banker Dan Bass said he put together a consortium of a half-dozen smaller banks to buy Citi's Texas retail business and divvy up the bank branches among them.

"I got the impression from when I talked to Citi that they wanted to sell to one entity rather than a consortium of banks," said Mr. Bass, managing director of Carson Medlin Co., an investment banking firm.

"I'm pretty confident that they're considering offers. But will the bids come in acceptable to Citi? I don't know," he said.

The possible sale was originally reported by the Dallas Business Journal.

Citi has been selling assets and raising equity to survive in the severe credit downturn that began last year.

Although the company is one of the world's financial giants, it entered the Texas retail banking business only three years ago, when it bought First American Bank. It has about 130 branches in the state, including several dozen in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"Their investment in Texas was too small for their objective," said Curtis Carpenter, managing director of Austin-based Sheshunoff & Co. Investment Banking.

"I'm hearing that they are actively soliciting bids for their Texas franchise," Mr. Carpenter said. "The alternatives at this point are either to spend a lot more money and effort to build it to where they want it to be, or to punt and try again later."

It's unclear who else might be interested in acquiring Citi's banking operations in Texas, Mr. Carpenter said.

Even if Citi does sell its Texas retail banking business, it would remain a major employer here. With large call centers and other nonretail operations, the company employs more than 10,000 people in the area.

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