Chinese investment group Citic Capital, partly owned by the country’s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC), has taken in another sovereign wealth fund partner. It announced on August 22 that Qatari sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Qatar Holding, has acquired the ownership of 22.22% in Citic Capital by subscribing to new shares.  Citic Capital did not disclose how much the Qatari group paid for the stake. 

 

Following the new shares issuance, CIC’s interest in Citic Capital comes down to 31.11%, while Hong Kong-listed CITIC Pacific and Citic International Financial Holdings will jointly hold 42.78% of the group.  The balance of 3.89% will be owned by the management and trustee of the share scheme of Citic Capital.

 

“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 as the most preferred and committed partner to invest with, both in and outside China,” Citic Capital CEO Yichen Zhang said in a statement.

 

The group, which was founded in 2002, manages over US$4.4 billion of capital from both international and Chinese investors and focusses in private equity, real estate, structured investment and finance, and asset management and venture.

 

QIA’s investment portfolios include Agricultural Bank of China, Barclays, Credit Suisse, London Stock Exchange, Porsche and Volkswagen, among others.