DealZone

Citigroup plans to sell 20 businesses in consumer finance, many of them located in Europe, its chief executive Vikram Pandit said in an interview with Singapore’s Business Times. 

He said the move was due to the shift in the consumer finance market where “there is less funding availability and they are probably less robust as businesses.”

Pandit also said that the group’s capital position following the completion of the exchange of preferred shares for common equity in July, reflected an “incredible financial strength.”

In other M&A related stories reported by Reuters and other media on Wednesday:

Austrian oil and gas group OMV is in talks to buy a $1.2 billion stake in Turkish fuel retailer Petrol Ofisi, OMV and Petrol’s majority owner Dogan Holding said. The move comes after OMV earlier this year sold its stake in Hungarian peer MOL  after an ill-fated takeover attempt, raising money that analysts expected it to use to expand in other parts of the region. For the Reuters report click here.

India’s Bharti Airtel plans to bid for telecom operator Millicom’s Sri Lankan mobile network, the Economic Times said, citing two executives familiar with the developments.

Bank of New York Mellon has beaten rival bidders and is in advanced talks to buy the bulk of British fund firm Insight Investment Management, the Financial Times said.

PepsiCo Inc  agreed to buy bottlers Pepsi Bottling Group Inc and PepsiAmericas Inc in a sweetened $7.8 billion deal, as it seeks to cut costs and boost profits in North America. For the Reuters story click here.

Deutsche Bank confirms it is to take a stake in private bank Sal. Oppenheim. Click on this link for an earlier story on the deal from Germany’s Boersen Zeitung newspaper.