RPT-UPDATE 2-Citigroup to sell out of Japan broker Monex-media

(Repeats to fix technical glitch)

* Citigroup to sell stake in online broker Monex - paper

* Its 26 pct stake worth $144 mln after Monex stock fall

* Monex shares fall 8 percent, underperforming market

* Analyst says major banks may be interested in buying Monex

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, March 6 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) plans to sell its 26 percent stake in Japanese online broker Monex Group Inc (8698.T) as part of the struggling U.S. bank's efforts to raise cash, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday.

Shares in Monex, Japan's second-largest online brokerage in terms of customer accounts, fell 8 percent on the report, cutting the value of Citigroup's stake to 14.1 billion yen ($144 million).

Citigroup, which has received $45 billion of U.S. taxpayer funded capital injections since October, appears to have already sounded out several financial institutions on the Monex stake, the Yomiuri reported. [ID:nN05328477]

Yoshito Shimoyama, a spokesman at Nikko Citi Holdings Inc, Citigroup's holding company in Japan, declined to comment.

Citigroup is also trying to sell Nikko Cordial, a bricks-and-mortar retail broker with 109 branches across Japan.

Japan's top three banks -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T), Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (8316.T) -- have shown an interest in buying Nikko Cordial, sources have told Reuters. [ID:nT127749]

The three banks may also jump at the chance to buy a stake in Monex, but would likely make it a first step towards seeking majority control, said Azuma Ohno, a brokerage industry analyst at Credit Suisse Securities.

Mitsubishi UFJ owns a 51 percent stake in kabu.com Securities Co (8703.T), the fifth-largest among Japan's six major online brokers.

"If it thinks Monex is cheap, it might be interested in buying to expand its current operations," Ohno said.

Neither Sumitomo Mitsui nor Mizuho have an online brokerage unit, and buying a stake in Monex would allow them to make a full-fledged entry into the market.