Citi CEO Vikram Pandit cited statistics and projections in his investor presentation. The middle class in China and India will balloon by 2014.
Note the Middle Class is defined as households making over $10,000 per year. The U.S. remains relatively stagnant on this measure through 2014. This means Citi will pursue global opportunities in emerging markets.
Trade flows show emerging markets on a rocket ascent since 2000:
Guess who else had a banner decade?
Citi is selling CitiFinancial, its U.S. consumer finance arm. Bidders include a plethora of private equity underwriters. The Carlyle Group is amongst the bidders. Funny, the Bush years don't feel over...
Update 4-9-11: Three PEU groups bid roughly $2 billion for CitiFinancial, since rebranded OneMain. One group has Carlyle, Blackstone and Brysam Global Partners. Another has Apollo and J.C. Flowers. The final bidder is Onyx and Clayton Dubilier & Rice.
