Citigroup takes full control of Japan's Nikko Cordial

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

TOKYO (AFP) — Citigroup said Tuesday that it had completed its move to take full control of Japanese brokerage house Nikko Cordial Corp., overcoming hurdles from financial difficulties at the US financial powerhouse.

Nikko Cordial has become a fully-owned subsidiary of Citigroup's Japanese arm after the completion of a 4.8-billion-dollar share swap, a company statement said.

Citigroup's top executive in Japan, Douglas Peterson, will become president and chief executive of Nikko Cordial, while Shoji Kuwashima will move down to vice chairman and also join the board of Citigroup Japan Holdings.

Citigroup's multi-billion-dollar move on Japan's third largest brokerage is the latest bid by a foreign company to try to make a major push into the world's second...