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Citigroup to buy rest of Nikko in $4.6 bln deal

TOKYO - Citigroup said it would make Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial Corp a wholly owned unit in a $4.6 billion share swap after the US banking giant lists its shares in Tokyo.

Citigroup spent about $8 billion to acquire a 68 percent stake in Nikko Cordial, Japan’s third-largest securities firm, earlier this year. It was Citigroup’s biggest-ever Asian acquisition and signalled its aim to make a big push in Japan.

Citigroup launched its buyout bid after Nikko was rocked by an accounting scandal, which hurt business at core retail unit Nikko Cordial Securities and Nikko Citigroup Ltd., the companies’ investment banking joint venture.

Citigroup said Nikko Cordial minority shareholders would receive Citigroup shares with an expected value of 1,700 yen for each Nikko Cordial share, the same price paid by Citigroup in its tender offer for Nikko Cordial earlier this year.

That would value the 32 percent stake at about 530 billion yen ($4.6 billion).

Citigroup said it has filed an application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and it expected the listing would be complete before the share swap.