"Apollo Management signed a preliminary agreement to buy Citigroup's property investment unit," British daily Financial Times has reported attributing to people familiar with the matter.

The report noted that Apollo would get about USD 12.5 billion in gross assets and exposure to Europe for the first time. "It will also acquire the team of 60 professionals employed by Citi," the daily added.

As part of its efforts to shrink balance sheet and also raise money, Citi has been selling many of its assets in the past few months. According to the publication, Apollo was believed to have had an inside track against other bidders since its head of real estate, Joe Azrack, once headed the Citi real estate unit.

"Azrack left Citi in June 2008 as part of a number of high-profile departures from the bank against a backdrop of heavy losses in real estate," the report said. PTI