Citigroup's quest to raise cash by selling assets is falling flat as would-be suitors have more interest in the parts of the business that Citi would like to keep, the New York Post said on Tuesday. One potential investor is Texas billionaire Gerald J. Ford, who is interested in buying back bank assets and branches that make up the former Golden State Bancorp which Citi bought from Ford seven years ago for nearly $6 billion, the paper said, citing sources.Potential buyers are also interested in Mexican bank Banamex, which Citi bought for $12.5 billion eight years ago, the newspaper added. Citigroup spokesman Jon Diat said last week Citi had no intention of selling Banamex, which it sees as a key component of Citicorp. The assets that make up Citi's so-called bad bank, businesses seen as non-core and at the heart of a strategy to raise much-needed capital, are garnering little interest, the paper cited investment bankers as saying.
