Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, agreed to sell its German consumer unit to France's Credit Mutuel Group for 4.9 billion euros to shore up capital.

The Paris-based customer-owned bank will pay the amount in cash, plus the equivalent of Citibank Privatkunden AG's 2008 earnings, New York-based Citigroup said in a Business Wire statement on Friday. Credit Mutuel, France's second-largest bank by branches, is the market leader for consumer loans in Germany with 340 branches and about 3.2 million clients.

Citigroup, reeling from losses on subprime-infected assets, is selling the unit as CEO Vikram Pandit disposes of $400 billion worth of assets. Credit Mutuel beat out Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest bank. The sale of Citibank may be the first in a wave of takeovers in Germany because Deutsche Postbank AG, Germany's biggest consumer bank by clients, and Allianz SE's Dresdner Bank are also up for sale.