Citigroup and Cerberus Capital Management, the distressed debt investor, are eyeing an $11.5bn (€9.5bn) bid for General Motors Acceptance Corp, the finance arm of carmaker General Motors, which last week unveiled fourth-quarter losses of $4.8bn.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Citigroup wants to accelerate its exposure to car purchase loans and may use an acquisition of GMAC to do so. The newspaper cites people familiar with the matter.