The Chinese asset management firm Citic Capital Holdings is taking on a new shareholder by agreeing to sell a 22 percent stake to a unit of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
The deal with Qatar Holding, the value of which was not disclosed, raises the profile of Citic Capital, one of China’s biggest investment firms. Citic, which manages more than $4.4 billion and also counts China’s sovereign wealth fund among its backers, has lately been showing an appetite for deals.
“We warmly welcome Qatar Holding to be our new shareholder,” Yichen Zhang, chief executive of Citic Capital, said in a statement. “Not only will Qatar Holding provide us with an enlarged capital base to fund our business expansion and investments, its significant backing will strengthen our brand positioning meaningfully as the most preferred and committed partner to invest with, both in and outside China.”
The transaction brings the ownership stake of the China Investment Corporation, that country’s sovereign wealth fund, to 31 percent, Citic Capital said. Citic Pacific Limited and Citic International Financial Holdings, two subsidiaries of the Citic Group, now hold a combined 42.8 percent stake.
With offices in China, Japan and the United States, Citic Capital has been stepping up its global presence. The firm, which does business in private equity and real estate, teamed up with the Carlyle Group and other firms this month in an offer to buy Focus Media Holding, a Chinese company listed in New York.
For Qatar Holding, which lately has been making investments in Europe amid the Continent’s crisis, the deal gives it greater access to China. Among the fund’s holdings are investments in the Agricultural Bank of China, Barclays and Credit Suisse.
Qatar Holding has also been actively pressuring Glencore International to pay a higher price for its proposed $30 billion takeover of the mining company Xstrata. Qatar Holding owns about 12 percent of Xstrata and is its second-largest shareholder behind Glencore.
Article source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/citic-capital-sells-stake-to-qatar-fund/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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