Citigroup Acquisition May Signal More to Come

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Citigroup's(C) acquisition of a $7 billion portfolio of Best Buy(BBY) credit card receivables from Capital One Financial(COF) may be surprising, given the bank's strategy of cutting costs and returning capital to shareholders. But acquisitions are one way the bank can boost profits to capture its massive $55 billion deferred tax asset (DTA) before it expires.

As part of the deal announced Tuesday, Citigroup will also issue and manage Best Buy-branded cards in the U.S. The price wasn't disclosed. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, won't materially affect 2013 earnings, Citigroup said in a press release. A spokesman for the bank declined to elaborate.

Capital One said in its press release that "the proceeds from the sale will approximate the book value of the accounts, resulting in no significant gain or loss on the transaction."

Capital One acquired the portfolio when it bought HSBC's(HBC) U.S. credit card business in a deal announced in 2011. That acquisition, as well as a deal for ING Direct last year, has created the need for Capital One to reduce leverage, according to Richard Bove, analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets.

"As I've been writing for the past two years, the capital raising at Capital One is not over with," Bove says.

From Citigroup's point of view, "I cringe at a deal like this," Bove says. He fears the bank is repeating past mistakes it made when it bought private label credit card portfolios from Home Depot(HD) and Sears Holdings(SHLD) .

"They went on a tear there for a period buying these private label situations and in my view they lost a lot of money on every one of them," Bove argues, adding that "private label credit cards suck," because retailers who issue the cards are far more interested in boosting sales than worrying about the credit quality of the borrower. A Citigroup spokesman responded to Bove's remarks by pointing to a statement in the bank's press release announcing the deal in which Bill Johnson, CEO of Citi Retail Services, refers to the portfolio as "high-quality."