An auction to sell Citigroup Inc.'s consumer banking business in Japan apparently attracted around six domestic lenders, including the three largest banks, sources close to the matter said Friday.

Citibank Japan Ltd. will continue the bidding process and is expected to complete the transaction in the business year ending next March, the sources said. The business is roughly valued to be worth tens of billions of yen.

The participants in the initial bidding, held the same day, were believed to have included the three megabanks — the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank — as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Resona Bank and Shinsei Bank.

Citigroup, which has 33 retail branches across Japan with deposits of about ¥3.8 trillion, had approached over a dozen Japanese banks to measure their interest.