Citigroup Inc. is negotiating the return of about $500 million it mistakenly paid a group of hedge funds and investment firms on a loan owed by Revlon Inc., the now-bankrupt cosmetics company controlled by billionaire Ronald Perelman, Reuters reported. In a Thursday filing in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for the bank and the lenders said they have been discussing a "consensual resolution" to end Citigroup's August 2020 lawsuit to recoup the mistaken payment. While no agreement has been reached, the lawyers said "material terms" of a settlement would provide for the return of Citigroup's money, with the bank transferring interest and amortization payments it began receiving in early 2021. Talks to end the lawsuit had been disclosed on Nov. 10. The lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman to let them update the status by Dec. 5. Citigroup, which was Revlon's loan agent, had accidentally used its own money in August 2020 to pay off the company's $894 million loan three years early instead of paying $7.8 million in interest.
