China Enterprise Development Fund's (CEDF) $115 million purchase of a 23 per cent stake in Sing Tao Holdings is one of its biggest deals which pushes the group in a new direction.
For Sing Tao chairman Sally Aw Sian, it heralds the end of a long search for a new strategic investor for the publishing group she has run for more than 40 years which last year slipped into the red.
On first appearances, the deal seems at odds with CEDF's stated principal activity which is to invest in unlisted enterprises in the mainland, or quoted China-concept shares.
In relation to the size of the fund, the Sing Tao purchase is huge, accounting for about 36 per cent of its US$40.4 million in net assets.
If the group decides to pay in cash, it will all but eliminate its cash reserves, leaving the fund 95 per cent invested.
The closed-end fund was listed on the Irish Stock Exchange in 1996. It has given no clues that such a deal could be in the offing.
Yet the fact the group had decided to take such a large stake, plus an option to buy a further 10 per cent, is being seen as a change in direction for the fund.