Citigroup expands NPL presence

Citigroup is to pay US$108m for a stake in Hong Kong-based Silver Grant International Industries as part of a deal establishing a joint venture to buy mainland non-performing loans. Under the deal Citigroup will hold 16.4% of Silver Grant, a company partly owned by China Cinda Asset Management, the biggest buyer of bad loans in China. The move will give Citigroup greater presence to compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in the market for China's US$205 billion of bad loans.