UPDATE 1-Japan's Orix to buy Internet firm IRI for $87 mln

(Reuters) - The Tokyo Stock Exchange said last month it would delist IRI
shares from its Mothers market for start-ups on June 24 due to
inappropriate earnings-related disclosure.




Ahead of the announcement of the acquisition, shares in Orix
closed down 1.4 percent at 32,650 yen, while IRI shot up 10.9
percent to 7,650 yen.



Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

US sell-off rattles world mkts

Asian stocks plunged on Wednesday after Wall Street chalked its second-biggest drop in four years and rattled already nervous markets worldwide.
The tumble extended weeks of international trading turmoil rooted in deepening concern about a wilting global economy.

Concern about US subprime lenders and lackluster retail sales pushed the Dow Jones industrials down 1.97% overnight.
Investors continued the sell-off in Asia, where stocks in Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur were all down more than 2%. Markets in Sydney and Shanghai lost about 1.76% and 1.85% respectively.

At the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the region's biggest bourse, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 512.04 points, or 2.98%, to 16 666.80 points. Foreign investors who bought up stocks during the recent rally led the selling, traders said.

The broader Topix index, which includes all shares on the exchange's first section, shed 49.55 points, or 2.87%, to 1 675.88 points.
Overnight, the Dow fell 242.66 points, or 1.97%, to 12 075.96 amid concerns about US subprime lenders, who provide mortgages to people with poor credit.

Read more at FIN24.co.za

Citigroup to list on Tokyo Stock Exchange

Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank, plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange later this year, a move that could make it easier to buy Japanese firms through stock swaps, the Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) business daily reported on Sunday.

Quoting an unnamed Citigroup executive in New York, Nikkei said the U.S. lender had already started preparations for the listing it saw as indispensable for carrying out its expansion plans in Japan.

Read more at Reuters South Africa