SWF Radar Blackstone

Thomson Reuters reports that, “South Korea’s National Pension Service on Thursday said it had signed a preliminary agreement with private equity firm Blackstone Group to invest $2 billion each in the north Asian country.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “The chairman [Lou Jiwei] of China’s sovereign wealth fund [China Investment Corp. (CIC)] has defended its operations, saying its investment in U.S. private equity firm Blackstone will pay off in the long run, and noted it holds over 90 percent of its assets in cash just as global equity markets are plummeting.”

The Wall Street Journal writes that, “Mideast and Chinese money is back. After largely staying on the sidelines during the past few tumultuous weeks of the global financial crisis, the cash-rich governments of the Persian Gulf and China appear to be getting back in the game.”

It adds that, “Meanwhile, the Chinese government intends to raise its ownership stake in Blackstone Group LP, according to people familiar with the situation. In a securities filing Thursday, Blackstone said it reached an agreement with China Investment Corp. that will allow the country’s year-old $200 billion investment fund to increase its holding in the New York-based private-equity firm to 12.5% from 9.9%. CIC is expected to purchase those shares on the open market, according to those people.”

Dow Jones reports that, “China’s US$200 billion sovereign-wealth fund has some good opportunities to buy prime overseas assets as their prices have slumped amid the global financial turmoil, [Antony Leung, Greater China chairman for the US private-equity firm Blackstone Group, said at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin] Sunday.”

The Economic Observer Online reports that, “US-based private equity house Blackstone revealed that China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), had no immediate intention to increase stake in the company.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “U.S. private equity heavyweight Blackstone Group, in which China’s sovereign wealth fund [the China Investment Corporation (CIC)] holds a substantial stake, said on Monday it is opening an office in Beijing and hired a former government official as its chief representative there.”

The Financial Times reports that, “A Dubai sovereign wealth fund has teamed up with Blackstone and others aiming to buy Informa from under the noses of a rival private-equity consortium, the Financial Times has learned.”

The “Dubai sovereign wealth fund” appears from the article to be Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC), which it describes as “one of the largest events organisers in the Middle East.” Here is a fuller description of DWTC.

The Telegraph reports that, “Officials in Beijing have appointed the global corporate advisory arm of the investment firm Blackstone to provide advice on the wave of mergers taking place across the sector, and on the pricing negotiations taking place between Chinese firms and the world’s major commodities producers. The involvement of Blackstone is a logical move, since just under 10 per cent of it is owned by China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s $200bn (£101bn) sovereign wealth fund.”

Stephen Schwarzman has written an opinion piece in the Financial Times on SWFs and western hostility toward them.

Among other things, he writes that, “This hostility is dangerous because we are reaching a stage in the global economy where, as CIC says, SWFs have other options.”

The Economist writes that, “China's sovereign-wealth fund has lost plenty of money on its stakes in Blackstone and Morgan Stanley. But rather than viewing this as an education in how an unrigged market works it considers the investments an embarrassment.”