Citigroup negotiates for hedge fund

Citigroup Inc. is in talks to purchase Old Lane LP, a hedge fund run by former Morgan Stanley executive Vikram Pandit for more than $600 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Mr. Pandit, who previously ran Morgan Stanley's institutional securities business until 2005, would become chief executive of the alternative investments division at the bank, if a deal is completed. He also could become a candidate to eventually succeed Citigroup chief executive Charles Prince, the newspaper said. Old Lane, which has investments in India and is thought to have more than $4 billion in assets under management, would become part of Citigroup's hedge-fund management business, a lucrative and rapidly expanding area for Wall Street banks. The fund's emphasis on India could be a particular draw, given Mr. Prince's focus on aggressively expanding in the country, the report said.