By Mike Spector and Christina Rexrode
Subprime lender Springleaf Holdings Inc. is in exclusive talks
to buy Citigroup Inc.'s OneMain Financial, according to people
familiar with the matter.
Springleaf has agreed to pay more than $4 billion for the
Baltimore-based subprime lender, and a deal could be finalized
within the next two weeks, one of the people said.
The two sides still must negotiate a number of contractual
agreements related to the deal, the person added.
Reuters earlier Friday reported that Springleaf was in advanced
talks to buy OneMain.
Citigroup has said it would consider spinning off OneMain as a
separate public company, selling it or a combination of the two.
OneMain filed IPO paperwork with regulators in October.
Citigroup weighed a sale of OneMain in 2011, but the bank didn't
want to sell for too low a price and investors were concerned about
the ability to raise financing for the deal.
Springleaf, majority owned by private-equity firm Fortress
Investment Group has been interested in OneMain for years. But
Springleaf, based in Evansville, Ind., was hampered by a heavy debt
load that led it to hire restructuring advisers.
Springleaf cut costs and raised money to improve its finances,
and the company went public in October 2013.
Fortress owns about 64% of Springleaf. The private-equity firm
acquired a majority interest in the subprime lender for about $125
million in 2010 from American International Group.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com and Christina
Rexrode at christina.rexrode@wsj.com
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