Citigroup and five European banks today emerged as the backers for Guy Hands' €7bn ($8.8bn) acquisition of Viterra, the German private housing company, according to sources close to the deal.
Citigroup leads a syndicate comprising Barclays Capital, EuroHypo, Royal Bank of Scotland, HVB and Société Générale to provide a total of €6.5bn of debt in two separate transactions.