Reports: Citigroup In Exclusive Talks To Sell OneMain Financial To Springleaf

(RTTNews) - Citigroup Inc. (C) is in exclusive talks to sell its consumer lending unit OneMain Financial Inc. to subprime lender Springleaf Holdings Inc. (LEAF) for more than $4 billion, according to media reports on Friday.

Baltimore-based OneMain Financial, formerly known as CitiFinancial, provides personal loans from more than 1,100 branches nationwide. OneMain Financial is part of Citi Holdings, the unit created by Citigroup after the 2008 financial crisis to house its bad assets.

Citigroup had tried to sell OneMain more than two years ago, but reportedly failed to reach a deal with the bidders at that time.

In October 2014, OneMain filed for an initial public offering. Citigroup was also reportedly planning to explore a sale of the unit at the same time, in what is known as a dual-track process.

Evansville, Indiana-based Springleaf Holdings is a provider of consumer finance and credit insurance products that went public in 2013. The company has more than 830 branches in 26 states.

Springleaf is majority-owned by private equity firm Fortress Investments Group LLC (FIG).

C closed Friday's trading at $51.78, up $0.66 or 1.29 percent on a volume of 19.43 million shares.

LEAF closed Friday's trading at $38.57, up $4.40 or 12.88 percent on a volume of 1.17 million shares.