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’A very serious meeting of substance
On the great occasion of China Investment Corporation acquiring an 8.68 per cent stake in Thames Water we should not pass up the opportunity to reproduce this extraordinary photograph.
That’s Britain’s chancellor,
Morgan Stanley’s Chinese irony
Morgan Stanley’s word of the week in China has to be “irony”, as news emerged late on Tuesday that the US Federal Reserve has given the go-ahead for China Investment Corp, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund,
Of sovereign wealth and black swans
Further adventures in sovereign wealth fund knife-catching — of a sort.
We’ve noted before that equity volatility has hampered sovereign wealth fund returns a tad lately. Tuesday’s WSJ offered a glimpse of a potential flip-side to this — SWFs buying protection on even worse reiterations of that volatility.
Adventures in equity knife-catching, SWF edition (updated)
If you’re a BP investor who thought twice about catching the falling knife of the firm’s post-Gulf spill shares this summer — well, spare a thought for Norway.
Thanks to the government’s sovereign wealth fund,
Ageas goes where China fears to tread
Chinese officials were busy on Thursday wheeling out a raft of semi-positive, if not lukewarm remarks about their confidence in eurozone investments, after denying an FT report that they were reviewing their holdings of eurozone debt.
Of princelings, turtles and Chinese private equity
It’s all on for “princeling”, “turtles” and even foreign private equity groups in China’s fast-growing buy-out industry, as Carlyle Group on Wednesday unveiled yet another agreement with a Chinese partner — this time to launch a local currency fund focused on smaller company investments.
CIC’s push in Asia could face resistance
Lou Jiwei, the chairman of China’s well-endowed SWF, CIC, recently reiterated the fund’s focus this year on what is now routinely labeled Emerging Asia. Jiwei added that the opportunities in these markets come with ample risk.
CIC takes on the world
After a low-key year, China Investment Corporation really has come back out swinging. After last week’s news of its nifty deal with Apax Partners in Europe, a (US) SEC filing by the Chinese sovereign wealth fund gives an intriguing glimpse into how it is using exchange-traded funds to take positions on sectors ranging from healthcare to consumer services and gold.
How to say ‘more please’ in Chinese
For a prime example of investor chutzpah, look no further than China Investment Corp, the country’s mega sovereign wealth fund, which has just done a deal with Apax to invest €685m (£599m) in the UK private equity group’s €11.2bn buy-out fund.
China Longyuan raises $2.3bn
China Longyuan Power Group, the nation’s largest wind-power producer, raised HK$17.5bn ($2.26bn) on Friday in the world’s third-biggest IPO by an alternative energy company, reports Bloomberg. Longyuan sold 2.14bn shares at HK$8.16 apiece,
CIC in €800m offer to Apax
China Investment Corp, China’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest as much as €800m (£723m) into Apax Partners’ €11.2bn private equity fund in a groundbreaking deal. CIC would also take a small stake in the management company of one of Europe’s biggest private equity funds.
Bidders eye Stanford University assets
Stanford University has received bids totalling more than $1bn for investments that it put up for sale last month, a figure at the high end of the school’s early expectations, reports the WSJ. But some of the bids feature tough conditions that could test how badly Stanford wants to raise cash.
CIC takes $710m stake in GCL-Poly
China Investment Corp has bought a HK$5.5bn ($710m) stake in a Hong Kong-based solar power component maker as the sovereign wealth fund invests in energy and commodities companies to hedge against inflation,
CIC — the multi-purpose SWF
Oh, for an investment bank client like China Investment Corp, as Lex observed recently, noting: “While other sovereign wealth funds talk a good deal, CIC does them”.
Many governments may also wish they had an SWF like CIC.
CIC buys stake in Kazakh oil group
China Investment Corp, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has bought an 11% stake in UK-listed JSC KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, marking its third global investment in natural resources assets in just one week.
SWFs and the Noble chase for commodities
Forget unprofitable investments in western financial groups. The scramble is on among Asian sovereign wealth funds for a big piece of the commodities action. As the FT reports on Tuesday, China Investment Corp has agreed to take a 15 per cent stake in Noble Group,
China SWF invests in commodities
China Investment Corp, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, bought a 15% stake in Noble Group as the Singapore-listed, Hong Kong-based commodity supplier benefits from China’s demand for coal, iron ore and soybeans,
China SWF eyes Blackstone fund
China Investment Corp, the country’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, is poised to invest $500m in a Blackstone Group hedge-fund unit, reports the WSJ. A hefty injection from China would signal that some big money is stepping off the sidelines as global markets stabilise.
China’s SWF pursues commodities
China Investment Corporation, the country’s fledgling sovereign wealth fund, has turned its attention to the commodities sector, where prices have collapsed partly due to lower demand from China. CIC is seeking investments in natural resources companies,
CIC set to boost stake in Blackstone
China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp, is planning to increase its stake in Blackstone Group from 9.9% to 12.5%, according to a US regulatory filing. This time, however, CIC will buy shares in the open market,
Morgan Stanley in talks with CIC
Morgan Stanley is in talks to sell a stake of up to 49% to China Investment Corp, the state-owned investment fund, as part of the investment bank’s efforts to reverse a slump in investor confidence, reports the FT.
Morgan Stanley’s talking to CIC, not Citic
Is Morgan Stanley really in talks with Citic, as reported by CNBC?
Not quite, according the FT’s Beijing Correspondent, Jamil Anderlini.
A well-placed person at Citic Securities told the FT that talk of the brokerage having anything to do with a Morgan Stanley bailout or any dealings whatsoever was unfounded market rumour.
Lehman bidders named, Treasury and Fed to resist public subsidy
Bank of America is leading a consortium that includes JC Flowers and China Investment Corp, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund, in a joint bid for Lehman Brothers.
Here’s the breaking FT story from Henny Sender,
HSBC rises on report of CIC investment
Shares in HSBC, Europe’s largest bank, rose the most in almost four months in Hong Kong on Monday following reports it held talks with China Investment Corp to attract investment from the Chinese sovereign fund,
Cerberus, CIC talk on co-operation
Cerberus Capital Management said it has had talks with China’s sovereign wealth fund about possible co-operation. John Snow, chairman of the US buy-out group and former US Treasury secretary, said there
China’s CIC raises budget to $90bn
China’s $200bn sovereign wealth fund now has as much as $90bn to spend on assets abroad, an increase of more than 30%, its president and chief investment officer said on Wednesday. The China Investment
China to go Scandi in bid to appease US angst
Affable Chinese man maintains charming facade as he repeatedly deals with spurious accusations.
It would be a good strapline for the 60 Minute interview with Gao Xiqing, president of the Chinese Investment Corporation.
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
“The 12 members of the UBS board palpably failed in their fiduciary duties; that only the chairman has so far left is ridiculous.”
Just in… reports that UBS is prepared to sell its investment banking business.