What’s Pandit’s plan at Citi?

Citi (C) is trying to get out from under its massive debt load. The financial titan is near a deal to sell $12 billion worth of leveraged loans and bonds to a private equity group, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move would cut the firm’s holdings of those assets, which have been difficult to sell since the debt markets froze up this past summer, by more than a quarter.

The deal comes as investors seek to get a glimpse of any bold strategic vision from CEO Vikram Pandit. Since taking over for Chuck Prince back in December, Pandit has set plans for big job cuts, paved the way for a possible spinoff of the company’s card unit and made a number of personnel moves. Earlier this week, Citi named cost-cutter Mark Rufeh head of productivity for its institutional-clients group. Citi may offer more details on its plans next Friday, when it’s due to post first-quarter earnings.

But so far, it’s hard to detect any grand pattern beyond constant motion. Earlier this year, for instance, the firm rolled out a plan to combine all of its residential mortgage operations under the CitiMortgage name. At the same time, Citi was splitting its wealth management unit in four  in a bid to focus more closely on various groups of clients. “Starting today, we will move from a ’silo-first’ to a ‘client-first’ organization,” wealth management chief Sallie Krawcheck said, Reuters reported.

In a posting called “Citigroup’s Two Part Strategy Explained,” blogger Michael Shedlock notes that “big silos will be split into small silos,” and then “small silos will be combined into one big streamlined silo.” Unable to contain his admiration, he adds, “This is an ingenious plan. Not many could have
come up with it. It will be a travesty of justice if big bonuses are not handed out for this fine effort.”