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As head of Primerica, Weill in 1992 bought part of Travelers, then an independent company. A year later, he took the rest of it. Next, as head of Travelers, he sold part of its property-casualty unit in an IPO, keeping life insurance and other parts close. As CEO of Citi, which merged with Travelers, he bought back the property-casualty interest in 2000. Now, in the latest IPO, Weill is selling another minority stake in the property-casualty biz. Is the boss of the world's most valuable banking franchise crying out for a psychiatrist?

I don't think so. But such compulsive buying and selling does raise a question: Why? Weill's spokeswoman at Citi did not respond to my inquiries. And the official explanations are not entirely credible. It's one thing for Citi to say it's taking the unit public so it "will have greater capital management flexibility," as the securities filing for Travelers Property Casualty explains, or so "compensation of management can be directly aligned with the performance of our common stock." Yet it's another thing to say that less than two years after taking the company private to give Citi "additional flexibility in the management of its capital," as it said back then, or to "reduce costs associated with [Travelers'] obligations and reporting requirements."

So, let's assume that the explicit reasons are not the sole motivations. Some other possibilities:

-- Welfare for investment bankers. Among its many operations, Citi also owns Salomon Smith Barney. It employs legions of investment bankers, who have spent much of the bear market trying to look busy. As lead underwriter on the IPO, plus a simultaneous sale of Travelers notes, SSB stands to take the largest cut of fees that I estimate will top $200 million.

-- Halliburtosis. Oil-services giant Halliburton saw its stock plunge last year as investors grew anxious that victims of asbestosis and other related diseases might reach past a unit it bought and into its own pockets. Travelers' filing vibrates with similar anxiety over asbestos claims. It's also curious that Citi unveiled its Travelers IPO just days after Halliburton shares sank 43%. Coincidence? Maybe, but asbestos so worries Travelers that Citi is offering $800 million in protection against excess claims. That could pinch Citi. But since it plans by yearend to give its own shareholders most of the stock in Travelers it doesn't sell in the IPO, the deal may be one way to distance Citi from any whiff of Halliburtosis.

Tuesday April 16, 10:43 am Eastern Time

Press Release

SOURCE: Infosys

Infosys Announces Progeon, its Business Process Management Venture

Citigroup Investments to Invest US$ 20 Million

BANGALORE, India & FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 2002--Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:INFY - news) today announced the launch of its Business Process Management venture called Progeon Ltd. (``Progeon''), a company in which it would hold a majority stake. Infosys has also acquired additional funding of US$ 20 million from Citigroup Investments for Progeon. Infosys had announced its plans to start a BPM initiative at the declaration of its annual results last week, with an investment of US$ 5 million.

Progeon (Managing Processes in the Global Era (Eon)) will be headquartered in Bangalore and is incorporated in India. The company will currently operate out of Infosys' state-of-the art facilities at Bangalore. Together, Progeon and Infosys will offer their clients a complete cost-effective solution based on service and technology outsourcing.

``Infosys welcomes Citigroup Investments as an investor and we see this as a great partnership,'' said Phaneesh Murthy, Infosys board member and head worldwide sales and marketing.

``Infosys is a leading brand in India and this is a significant investment for us,'' said Robert Druskin, executive vice president - chief operations and technology officer, Citigroup. ``We already have a business relationship with Infosys, which we are happy with, and it was logical for Citigroup Investments to build upon the existing relationship with Infosys by investing in Progeon.''

About Infosys Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: INFY - news)

Infosys, a world leader in consulting and information technology services, partners with Global 2000 companies to provide business consulting, systems integration, application development and product engineering services. Through these services, Infosys enables its clients to fully exploit technology for business transformation. Clients leverage Infosys' Global Delivery Model to achieve higher quality, rapid time-to-market and cost-effective solutions. Infosys has approximately 10,000 employees in over 30 offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.infy.com.

About Citigroup

Citigroup (NYSE:C - news), the preeminent global financial services company with some 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries, provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, Banamex, and Travelers. Additional information may be found at: www.citigroup.com.