Business groups against type with capital from the East (9)
I believe the answer is:
consortia
'business groups' is the definition.
(more than one consortium)
'against type with capital from the east' is the wordplay.
'against' becomes 'con' (as in pros and cons, for and against).
'type' becomes 'sort' (I've seen this in another clue).
'with capital' becomes 'ai' (resembles 'A1', old-fashioned term for excellent. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'from the east' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (on a map from right to left).
'ai' written backwards gives 'ia'.
'con'+'sort'+'ia'='CONSORTIA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for consortia that I've seen before include "Groups of bodies" , "Alliances" , "Associations of businesses" , "More than one commercial group" , "firms" .)