Gov't plans to sell 2.4 bil. shares of Citigroup stock

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — (AP) — The government said it will sell its remaining shares of Citigroup common stock in the latest effort to recoup costs from the $700 billion financial bailout.

The Treasury Department said Monday that it will sell approximately 2.4 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. common stock. The sale would begin immediately and would end when the government determined that it had received an acceptable price for the shares.

Citigroup received $45 billion in taxpayer support in one of the largest bank rescues by the government.

Of the $45 billion in taxpayer support provided to Citigroup, $25 billion was converted to a government ownership stake that the Treasury has been selling off since last spring. The bank repaid the other $20 billion in December 2009.

Treasury had sold 5.3 billion shares of common stock before Monday's announcement. The planned sale of the additional 2.4 billion shares would complete the sale of Treasury's holdings of Citigroup common stock.