Taxpayers Will Score $12B on Citigroup Bailout: Treasury

Taxpayers will wind up making out like bandits on their $45 billion bailout of Citigroup. The Treasury Department has struck a deal to sell its remaining 2.4 billion shares of Citigroup for $4.35 a share, it announced yesterday, bringing the total money made off such sales to $57 billion. Citigroup will pay the underwriting fees on the sale.

“By selling all the remaining Citigroup shares today, we had an opportunity to lock in substantial profits for taxpayers and avoid future risk,” said the Treasury’s bailout chief. The actual profit may wind up being even higher; the FDIC still holds $800 million in preferred securities, and the Treasury still has warrants to buy Citi stock at a set price in the future, the AP reports. (More Citigroup stories.)