Citigroup Completes Purchase of Sears Portfolio

The credit card industry newsletter Cardline reports that Citigroup has just completed its acquisition of the $28.6 billion credit card portfolio of Sears, Roebuck and Co. The purchase price was $31.8 billion. Citi paid $300 million for related Sears assets, facilities and employees. The company indicated that there will be no immediate changes in the Sears card programs or operations. Citi and Sears have entered into a multi-year marketing and servicing agreement. Completion of the acquisition gives Citi 161 million card accounts with $146 billion in receivables in North America and 176 million accounts and $160 billion in receivables globally.