Several banks vie for Citi German business-paper
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  FRANKFURT, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. bank Citigroup <C.N>\nplans to draw up a short list of interested bidders quickly in\nthe sale of its German Citibank retail operations, a German\nnewspaper reported on Friday.\nSelected bidders will gain access to Citibank's books within\nthe next two weeks, Handelsblatt newspaper said, citing several\ninsiders as sources.\nThe paper said it was not clear how many potential bidders\nhad come forward by the time the deadline for non-binding offers\nended on Thursday night, but said one person familiar with the\nsituation had spoken of ten interested parties.\nDeutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, Commerzbank <CBKG.DE> and Spain's\nSantander <SAN.MC> were among the banks flagging interest, the\npaper quoted financial sources as saying, adding that the banks\nall declined comment.\nReuters reported last month that Citigroup was mulling a\nsale of its German retail operations, which makes most of its\nmoney from loans for everything from televisions to cars.\nCitibank's parent, Citigroup, has said it plans to shed $400\nbillion of assets within three years in a bid to restore\nprofitability after huge losses.\n(Reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by David Cowell)\n((jonathan.gould@reuters.com; 49 69 7565 1242; Reuters\nMessaging: jonathan.gould.reuters.com@reuters.net))\nKeywords: CITI/GERMANY