Citigroup's UK headquarters sold for $2 bn
London: In the second-biggest property transaction ever in Britain a British real-estate consortium will buy the 42-storey tower that houses Citigroup Inc's London headquarters for about 1 billion pounds ($2 billion; euro 1.5 billion) from Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC.

Located in the capital's Canary Wharf district, the building comprises more than 1.2 million square feet (366 million square meters) of space, leased by Citigroup, the world's largest bank.

Citigroup will stay at 25 Canada Square after the sale under a 25-year lease that expires in 2026.
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Och-Ziff Capital hedge fund to float IPO
New York: Multi-strategy investment fund Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC with about $26.8 billion under management has filed for an initial public offering. This makes it the latest alternative investment firm to seek a public listing.

Och-Ziff will offer up to $2 billion worth of Class A shares on the New York Stock Exchange, representing limited liability company interests.

Och-Ziff also has major operations in merger arbitrage, convertible arbitrage, private equity and real estate.

Och-Ziff said it plans to go public to attract and retain investment talent, develop new strategies and allow senior management to sell stakes in the firm. Its flagship multi-strategy fund, OZ Master Fund Ltd., which makes up about 65 percent of funds under management, generated a net annualized return of 12.2 percent over the last five years, according to its registration statement.
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Oil rises above $70
Pataling: Crude oil remained steady US$70 per barrel in New York on July 2, on expectation of rising petrol consumption in the US during the peak summer months.

In London, the European benchmark Brent crude oil yesterday eased from a one-week high of US$71.41, as heightened terrorist threat alert in Britain kept investors on alert.

Analysts said the recent narrowing was probably due to expectation that the rising petrol demand in the US during the second half of the year would keep US inventories low.

Analysts said having both Nymex and Brent crude oils at above US$70 per barrel for a prolonged period might put some pressure on producers, such as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to increase output.
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