Japan's failed Joint hires Citigroup as adviser

Published: 16 Jun 2009 01:59:13 PST

TOKYO, June 16 - Japanese apartment developer Joint Corp said in a statement on Tuesday it has hired Nikko Citigroup as a financial adviser to look for an investor after it filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

The developer, affiliated with Japan's largest leasing company Orix Corp, filed for court protection from creditors with 147.6 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in debt in the nation's fourth-largest failure by a listed company this year.

Nikko Citigroup, the Japanese investment banking arm of Citigroup Inc acted as an adviser for New City Residence Investment Corp, the first Japanese real estate investment trust to fail in Japan. Lone Star Funds won the right to invest in that company.