Citigroup Sells $1.7 Billion of LBO Fund Stakes to Axa Unit

Citigroup Inc. agreed to sell $1.7 billion of leveraged buyout assets to Axa SA’s private equity unit as the third-biggest U.S. bank moves to shrink its balance sheet.

Axa Private Equity is buying about 207 interests including stakes in buyout funds managed by KKR & Co. LP, Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group, and investments Citigroup made directly in some companies such as First Data Corp., Dominique Senequier, Axa Private Equity chief executive officer, said in a phone interview. The price at which the holdings have been acquired wasn’t disclosed in a joint statement today.