Citigroup Takes Over Korean Bad-Debt Company

Citigroup Inc, the world's largest financial-service company, said on Friday that it has completed the acquisition of Lend Lease Korea Ltd, a bad-loan-restructuring company, through its subsidiary Citigroup Global Markets.

In a press release, the US-based financial-service firm, which took over KorAm Bank, South Korea's six-largest lender, in April, said Citigroup and Lend Lease Korea have worked together since early 2000 on the acquisition and resolution of non-performing loans.

It did not provide any other details on the deal, including the acquisition cost.

South Korea's bad-loan market has markedly expanded since the financial crisis that hit Asia's third-largest economy in late 1997.

Local lenders and state-run Korea Asset Management Corp, which specializes in restructuring bad loans taken over from financial companies, sold off a huge chunk of dud assets to foreign investors such as Merrill Lynch, Lone Star and Goldman Sachs at cheap prices.