Citigroup and Nikko Announce Citigroup's Intention to Reduce Nikko Shareholdings.TOKYO & NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- Citigroup (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : C) and Nikko Cordial Nikko Cordial Corporation (株式会社日興コーディアルグループ Corporation (TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). : 8603) --Reflects Strengthening of Nikko's Operations in Six Years Since Original Investment --The Two Companies Form New Private Equity Investment Venture Targeting Buyout Opportunities in Japan Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Nikko Cordial Corporation (TSE: 8603) announced today that Citigroup intends to reduce its shareholdings in Nikko Cordial to an amount representing approximately 12% of Nikko's outstanding shares. The sale, which will be conducted in a manner that is orderly and advantageous to both companies, does not affect Nikko Citigroup Nikko Citigroup Limited (日興シティグループ証券株式会社 Limited or the two companies' other joint ventures and collaborations. Citigroup, which currently holds approximately 21% of Nikko's outstanding shares, will remain the company's largest shareholder after the sale is completed. Citigroup will retain its representation on the Nikko Cordial Board of Directors, and Douglas L. Peterson, the recently named Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Japan, has been nominated to the Nikko Cordial Board. The two companies also announced that the new private equity investment joint venture that Citigroup Venture Capital International and Nikko Principal Investments established in March will launch a private equity fund targeting buyout opportunities in Japan. Each partner has committed to contribute JPY JPY In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Japanese Yen. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 11 billion to this fund. Junichi Arimura, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Nikko Cordial, said, "We highly value Citigroup as both a shareholder and business partner. Citigroup invested in Nikko in 1998 when we were in need of additional capital support. In view of Nikko's substantially strengthened operations, capital structure and prospects and our desire to expand our ownership base in order to enhance shareholder liquidity and the trading market for our shares, we determined that the sale of a portion of Citigroup's shares would be in the best interests of Nikko and its shareholders." Sir Deryck Maughan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup International said, "This reduction of our shareholdings in Nikko is beneficial to both of our companies and reflects the great progress at Nikko since we made our investment in 1998. We are deeply committed to growing our business and expanding our client capabilities in Japan, where we have $10 billion invested and 10,000 employees." Sir Deryck added, "We will continue to collaborate with Nikko through Nikko Citigroup Limited and our other joint activities, and will continue to seek out new opportunities to draw upon Citigroup's global platform and products and Nikko's leading distribution networks in the country, as we have with the new private equity investment fund we announced today." The market capitalization Market Capitalization A measure of a public company's size. Market capitalization is the total dollar value of all outstanding shares. It's calculated by multiplying the number of shares times the current market price. This term is often referred to as market cap. for Nikko at the close of business on June 18, 2004 was JPY 1.07 trillion. About Citigroup Citigroup (NYSE: C), the preeminent pre·em·i·nent or pre-em·i·nent adj. Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding. See Synonyms at dominant, noted. [Middle English, from Latin prae global financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. company which has 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc., a global, full-service financial firm, that provides brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations, governments and individuals around the world. , Banamex, and Travelers Life and Annuity. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com. About Nikko Cordial Corporation Nikko Cordial Corporation (TSE: 8603), is a diversified financial The diversified financial services segment includes a range of consumer and commercially-oriented companies offering a wide variety of products and services, including various lending products (such as home equity loans and credit cards), insurance, and securities and investment services group which provides primarily securities related financial services, financing, asset management and other financial services. The major group companies are; Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. as a retail securities house, Nikko Citigroup Limited as a wholesale securities house, Nikko Asset Management Co., Ltd. as an asset management service provider. The group provides customers with a broad range of financial solutions. The group has 9,072 employees as of March 31, 2004. |
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